LIBEAEY 

I'KTNCETONy  N.  J. 

No.  Case,_     JMl 

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No.  Bool:,  M TT^ 


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THE 


RISE    AND    PROGRESS 

OP 

RELIGION  IN  THE   SOUL, 

ILLUSTRATED   IN  A   COURSE   OF 

SERIOUS  AND  PRACTICAL  ADDRESSES 

SUITED   TO   PERSONS 

Of  every  Character  and  Circumstance: 

WITH  A 

DEVOUT    MEDITATION,   OR    PRAYER, 

SUBJOINED  TO   EACH  CHAPTER. 


BY  PHILIP  DODDRIDGE,  D.  D. 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE 

AMERICAN   TRACT   SOCIETY, 

150  NASSAU-STREET,  NEW-YORK. 


D.  Fanshaw,  Printer. 


CONTENTS. 


Preface 5 

Chap.  i. — The  introduction  to 
the  work,  with  some  gen- 
eral account  of  its  design  -      9 
A  prayer  for  the  success  of  it, 
in  promoting  the  rise  and       « 
progress  of  religion  -        -    21 

Chap.  ii. — The  careless  sinner 
awakened  25 

The  meditation  of  a  sinner, 
who  was  once  thoughtless, 
but  begins  to  be  awakened    37 

Chap.  iii. — The  awaKPned  sin- 
ner urged  to  immediate 
consideration,  and  caution- 
ed against  delay  -  -  41 
A  prayer  for  one  who  is 
tempted  to  delay  applying 
to  religion,  though  under 
some  conviction  of  its  im- 
portance   -        -        -        -     50 

Chap.  iv. — The  sinner  arraign- 
ed and  convicted        -        -    53 
The   confession  of  a  sinner, 
convinced  in  general  of  his 
guilt  -         -        -        -    65 

Chap.  v. — The  sinner  stripped 

of  his  vain  pleas        -  69 

The  meditation  of  a  convinc- 
ed sinner,  giving  up  his 
vain  pleas  before  God         -    81 

Chap.  vi. — The  sinner  sentenced  84 
The  reflection   of   a  sinner, 
struck  with  the   terror  of 
his  sentence       -        -        -     93 

Chap.  vii. — The  helpless    state 
of  the  sinner  under    con- 
demnation 97 
The  lamentation  of  a  sinner 
in  this  miserable  condition  134 

Chap.  viii. — News  of  salvation 
by  Christ  brought  to  the 
convinced  and  condemned 
sinner  ...  -  107 
The  sinner's  reflection  on 
this  good  news  -  115 

Chap,  ix.—  A  more  particular 
account  of  the  way  by  which 
this  salvation  is  to  be  ob- 
tained -  -  -118 
The  sinner  deliberating  on  the 
expediency  of  falling  in  with 
this  method  of  salvation      -129 


Chap.  x. — The  sinner  seriously 
urged  and  entreated  to  ac- 
cept of  salvation  in  this  way  132 
The  sinner  yielding  to  these 
entreaties,  and  declaring  his 
acceptance  of  salvation  by 
Christ        -        -        -        -  140 

Chap.  xi. — A  solemn  address  to 

*  those  who  will  not  be  per- 
suaded to  fall  in  with  the 
design  of  the  Gospel  -143 

•  A  compassionate  prayer,  in 

behalf  of   the    impenitent 
•  sinner        -  160 

Chap.  xii. — An  address  to  a  soul 
so  overwhelmed  with  a 
sense  of  the  greatness  of  its 
sins,  that  it  dares  not  apply 
itself  to  Christ  with  any 
hope  of  salvation  -  -164 
Reflection  on  the  encourage- 
ments he  has  to  do  it,  end- 
ing in  an  humble  and  ear- 
nest application  to  Christ 
for  mercy  -        -        -        -  liO 

Chap.  xiii. — The  doubting  soul 
more  particularly  assisted 
in  its  inquiries  as  to  the 
sincerity  of  its  faith  and  re- 
pentance -  -  -  174 
The  soul  submitting  to  divine 
examination  the  sincerity 
of  its  repentance  and  faith*  182 

Chap.  xiv. — A  more  particular 
view  of  the  several  branches 
of  the  Christian  temper ;  by 
which  the  reader  may  be 
further  assisted  in  judging 
what  he  is,  and  what  he 
should  endeavor  to  be  -  186 
A  review  of  the  several  bran- 
ches of  this  temper,  in  a 
scriptural  prayer    -  -  205 

Chap.  xv. — The  reader  remind- 
ed how  much  he  needs  the 
assistance  of  the  Spirit  of 
God  to  form  him  to  this 
temper,  and  what  encou- 
ragement he  has  to  expect  it  210 
An  humble  supplication  for 
the  influences  of  divine 
grace  to  form  and  strength- 
en religion  in  the  soul        -  217 


CONTENTS. 


Chap,  xvi.— The  Christian  con- 
vert warned  of,  and  anima- 
ted against,  those  discou- 
ragements which  he  must 
expect  to  meet  when  enter- 
ing on  a  religious  course   -  220 
The  soul,  alarmed  by  a  sense 
of  these  difficulties,  commit- 
ting itself  to  divine  protec- 
tion -  -  -  227 
Chap,  xvii.— TheChristian  urg- 
ed to,  and  assisted  in,  an 
express  act  of  self-dedica- 
tion to  the  service  of  God  -  230 
An  example  of  sell-dedication  234 
Together  with  an  abstract  of 
it,  to  be  used  with   proper 
and  requisite  alterations  -    241 
Chap,  xviii.— On  communion  in 
the  Lord's  Supper    -        ■>  245 
A  prayer  for  one  who  desires 
to  attend,  yet  has  some  re- 
maining doubts  concerning 
his  right  to  that  solemn  or- 
dinance      -  253 
Chap.  xix. — Some  more  parti- 
cular directions  for  main- 
taining continual  commu- 
nion with  God,  or  being  in 
his  fear  all  the  daylong;  in 
a  letter  to  a  pious  friend     -  256 
A  serious  view  of  death,  pro- 
per to  be  taken  as  we  lie 
down  on  our  beds  -            -  276  i 
Chap.  xx. — A  serious  persuasive 
to  such  a  method  of  spend- 
ing our  days            -            -  279 
A  prayer  suited  to  the  state  of 
a  soul  who  longs  to  attain 
such  a  life    -           -           -  290 
Chap.  xxi. — A   caution  against 
various     temptations,     by 
which   the   young  convert 
may  be  drawn  aside  from 
the  course  before   recom- 
mended      -           -           -  294 
The  young  convert's  prayer 
for  divine  protection  from( 
the  danger  of  these  snares  -  307 
Chap.  xxii. — The  case  of  Spiri- 
tual decay  and  languor  in 
religion       -           -           -  310 
A  prayer  for  one  under  spi- 
ritual decays           -            -  321 
Chap,  xxiii.— The  sad  case  of  a 


relapse  into  known  and  de- 
liberate sin,  after  solemn 
acts  of  dedication  to  God, 
and  some  progress  made  in 
religion  ...  325 
A  prayer  for  one  who  has 
fallen  into  gross  sin,  after 
religious  resolutions  and 
engagements  -  -  336 

Chap.  xxiv. — The  case  of  the 
Christian  under  the  hidings 
of  God's  face  -  -  342 

An  bumble  supplication  for 
one  under  the  hidings  of 
God's  face  -  -  -  357 

Chap,  xxv.— The  Christian  strug- 
gling under  great  and  heavy 
afflictions        -  -        -  361 

An  address  to  God  under  the 
pressure  of  heavy  affliction  367 
Chap.  xxvi. — The  Christian  as- 
sisted in  examining  into  his 
growth  in  grace  -  372 

The  Christian  breathing  ear- 
nestly after  growth  in  grace  385 
Chap,  xxvii. — The  advanced 
Christian  reminded  of  the 
mercies  of  God,  and  exhort- 
ed to  the  exercise  of  habi- 
tual love  to  him,  and  joy  in 
him  ....  387 

An  example  of  the  genuine 
workings  of  this  grateful 
joy  in  God  -  -  -  395 

Chap,  xxviii. — The   established 
Christian    urged    to    exert 
himself  for  purposes  of  use- 
fulness ...  401 
The  Christian  breathing  after 
more  extensive  usefulness     415 
Chap.  xxix. — The  Christian  re- 
joicing in  the  views  of  death 
and  judgment         -  -  418 
The  meditation  and  prayer  of 
a  Christian  whose  heart  is 
warmed  with  these  pros- 
pects          -           -  -  430 
Chap,  xxx.— The  Christian  ho- 
noring God  by  his  dying 
behavior      ...  433 
A  meditation  and  prayer  suit- 
ed to  the  case  of  a  dying 
Christian     -           -  -  445 
Brief  notice  of  the  Life  of  Dr. 
Doddridge        -                  •   451 


THB0L06IG1 
PREFACE. 


The  several  hints  given  in  the  first  chapter  of  this 
Treatise,  which  contains  a  particular  plan  of  the  design, 
render  it  unnecessary  to  introduce  it  with  a  long  pre- 
face. My  much  honored  friend,  Dr.  Watts,  had  laid 
the  scheme,  especially  of  the  former  part.  But  as  those 
indispositions  with  which  God  has  been  pleased  to  ex- 
ercise him  had  forbid  his  hopes  of  being  able  to  add 
this  to  his  many  labors  of  love  to  immortal  souls,  he 
was  pleased,  in  a  very  affectionate  and  importunate 
manner,  to  urge  me  to  undertake  it.  And  I  bless  God 
with  my  whole  heart,  not  only  that  he  hath  carried  me 
through  this  delightful  task,  (for  such  indeed  I  have 
found  it,)  but  also  that  he  hath  spared  that  worthy  and 
amiable  person  to  see  it  accomplished,  and  given  him 
strength  and  spirit  to  review  so  considerable  a  part  of 
it.  His  approbation,  expressed  in  stronger  terms  than 
modesty  will  permit  me  to  repeat,  encourages  me  to 
hope  that  it  is  executed  in  such  a  manner  as  may,  by 
the  Divine  blessing,  render  it  of  some  general  service. 
And  I  the  rather  hope  it  will  be  so,  as  it  now  comes 
abroad  into  the  world,  not  only  with  my  own  prayers 
and  his,  but  also  with  those  of  many  other  pious  friends, 
which  I  have  been  particularly  careful  to  engage  for  its 
success, 

1* 


6  PREFACE. 

Into  whatever  hands  this  work  may  come,  I  must 
desire  that,  before  any  pass  their  judgment  upon  it, 
they  would  please  to  read  it  through,  that  they  may 
discern  the  connexion  between  one  part  of  it  and  an- 
other ;  which  I  the  rather  request,  because  I  have  long 
observed  that  Christians  of  different  parties  have  been 
eagerly  laying  hold  on  particular  parts  of  the  system 
of  Divine  truth,  and  have  been  contending  about  them, 
as  if  each  had  been  all ;  or  as  if  the  separation  of  the 
members  from  each  other,  and  from  the  head,  were 
the  preservation  of  the  body,  instead  of  its  destruction. 
They  have  been  zealous  to  espouse  the  defence,  and  to 
maintain  the  honor  and  usefulness  of  each  apart: 
whereas  the  honor,  as  well  as  the  usefulness,  seems  to 
me  to  lie  much  in  their  connection:  and  suspicions 
have  often  arisen  betwixt  the  respective  defenders  of 
each,  which  have  appeared  as  unreasonable  and  absurd 
as  if  all  the  preparations  for  securing  one  part  of  a  ship 
in  a  storm  were  to  be  censured  as  a  contrivance  to  sink 
the  rest.  I  pray  God  to  give  to  all  his  ministers  and 
people  more  and  more  of  the  spirit  of  wisdom,  and  of 
love,  and  of  a  sound  mind :  and  to  remove  far  from  us 
those  mutual  jealousies  and  animosities  which  hinder 
our  acting  with  that  unanimity  which  is  necessary  in 
order  to  the  successful  carrying  on  of  our  common 
warfare  against  the  enemies  of  Christianity.  We  may 
be  sure  these  enemies  will  never  fail  to  make  their  own 
advantage  of  our  multiplied  divisions  and  severe  con- 
tests with  each  other.  But  they  must  necessarily  lose 
both  their  ground  and  their  influence,  in  proportion  to 
the  degree  in  which  the  energy  of  Christian  principles 


PREFACE. 


is  felt  to  unite  and  transform  the  heart  of  those  by 
*  whom  they  are  professed. 

I  have  studied  in  this  Treatise  the  greatest  plainness 
of  speech,  that  the  lowest  of  my  readers  may,  if  pos- 
sible, be  able  to  understand  every  word ;  and  I  hope 
persons  of  a  more  elegant  taste  and  refined  education 
will  pardon  what  appeared  to  me  so  necessary  a  piece 
of  charity.  Such  a  care  in  practical  writings  seems  one 
important  instance  of  that  honoring  all  men,  which  our 
amiable  and  condescending  religion  teaches  us ;  and  I 
have  been  particularly  obliged  to  my  worthy  patron 
for  what  he  hath  done  to  shorten  some  of  the  sentences, 
and  to  put  my  meaning  into  plainer  and  more  familiar 
words. 

I  must  add  one  remark  here,  which  I  heartily  wish  I 
had  not  omitted  in  the  first  edition,  viz.  That  though 
I  do  in  this  book  consider  my  reader  as  successively 
in  a  great  variety  of  supposed  circumstances,  begin- 
ning with  those  of  a  thoughtless  sinner,  and  leading 
him  through  several  stages  of  conviction,  terror,  &c. 
as  what  may  be  previous  to  his  sincerely  accepting  the 
Gospel,  and  devoting  himself  to  the  service  of  God ; 
yet  I  would  by  no  means  be  thought  to  insinuate,  that 
every  one  who  is  brought  to  that  happy  resolution,  ar- 
rives at  it  through  those  particular  steps,  or  feels  agita- 
tions of  mind  equal  in  degree  to  those  I  have  described. 
Some  sense  of  sin,  and  some  serious  and  humbling  ap- 
prehension of  our  danger  and  misery  in  consequence 
of  it,  must  indeed  be  necessary  to  dispose  us  to  receive 
the  grace  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  Saviour  who  is  there 
exhibited  to  our  faith.  But  God  is  pleased  sometimes 
to  begin  the  work  of  his  grace  in  the  heart  almost  from 


8  PREFACE. 

the  first  dawning  of  reason,  and  to  carry  it  on  by  such 
gentle  and  insensible  degrees,  that  very  excellent  per- 
sons, who  have  made  the  most  eminent  attainments  in 
the  Divine  life,  have  been  unable  to  recount  any  re- 
markable history  of  their  conversion.    And  so  far  as  I 
can  learn,  this  is  most  frequently  the  case  with  those 
of  them  who  have  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  a  pious  educa- 
tion, when  it  has  not  been  succeeded  by  a  vicious  and 
licentious  youth.  God  forbid,  therefore,  that  any  should 
be  so  insensible  of  their  own  happiness  as  to  fall  into 
perplexity  with  relation  to  their  spiritual  state,  for  want 
of  being  able  to  trace  such  a  rise  of  religion  in  their 
minds  as  it  was  necessary  on  my  plan  for  me  to  de- 
scribe and  exemplify  here.    I  have  spoken  my  senti- 
ments on  this  head  so  fully  in  the  eighth  of  my  Ser- 
mons on  Regeneration,  that  I  think  none  who  has  read 
and  remembers  the  general  contents  of  it  can  be  in 
danger  of  mistaking  my  meaning  here.    But  as  it  is 
very  possible  this  book  may  fall  into  the  hands  of  many 
who  have  not  read  the  other,  and  have  no  opportunity 
of  consulting  it,  I  thought  it  proper  to  insert  this  cau- 
tion in  the  preface  to  this  ;  and  I  am  much  obliged  to 
that  worthy  and  excellent  person  who  kindly  remind- 
ed me  of  the  expediency  of  doing  it. 

Philip  Doddridge. 


ESS 


OF 

RELIGION  IN  THE  SOUL. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   INTRODUCTION  TO   THE  WORK,  WITH    SOME   GENERAL 
ACCOUNT   OF   ITS    DESIGN. 

1.  2.  That  true  religion  is  very  rare,  appears  from  comparing 
the  nature  of  it  with  the  lives  and  characters  of  men  around 
us. — 3.  The  want  of  it,  matter  of  just  lamentation. — 4.  To 
remedy  thi%  evil  is  the  design  of  the  ensuing  Treatise. — 5. 6. 
To  which,  therefore,  the  Author  earnestly  bespeaks  the  atten- 
tion of  the  reader,  as  his  own  heart  is  deeply  interested  in  it. 
— 1.  to  12.  A  general  plan  of  the  Work;  of  which  the  first 
fifteen  chapters  relate  chiefly  to  the  Rise  of  Religion,  and  the 
remaining  chapters  to  its  Progress. — Prayer  for  the  success 
of  the  Work. 

1.  When  we  look  around  us  with  an  attentive 
eye,  and  consider  the  characters  and  pursuits  of  men, 
we  plainly  see,  that  though,  in  the  original  constitu- 
tion of  their  natures,  they  only,  of  all  the  creatures 
that  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  are  capable  of 
religion,  yet  many  of  them  shamefully  neglect  it. 
And  whatever  different  notions  people  may  entertain 


10  RELIGION    NOT    UNIVERSAL. 

of  what  they  call  religion,  all  must  agree  in  owning 
that  it  is  very  far  from  being  a  universal  thing. 

2.  Religion,  in  its  most  general  view,  is  such  a 
sense  of  God  in  the  soul,  and  such  a  conviction  of 
our  obligations  to  him,  and  of  our  dependence  upon 
him,  as  shall  engage  us  to  make  it  our  great  care  to 
conduct  ourselves  in  a  manner  which  we  have  rea- 
son to  believe  will  be  pleasing  to  him.  Now,  when 
we  have  given  this  plain  account  of  religion,  it  is  by 
no  means  necessary  that  we  should  search  among 
the  savages  of  distant  Pagan  nations  to  find  in- 
stances of  those  who  are  strangers  to  it.  When  we 
view  the  conduct  of  the  generality  of  people  at  home, 
in  a  Christian  and  Protestant  nation,  in  a  nation 
whose  obligations  to  God  have  been  singular,  almost 
beyond  those  of  any  other  people  under  heaven,  will 
any  one  presume  to  say  that  religion  has  a  universal 
reign  among  us?  Will  any  one  suppose  that  it 
prevails  in  every  life  ;  that  it  reigns  in  every  heart  ? 
Alas !  the  avowed  infidelity,  the  profanation  of  the 
name  and  day  of  God,  the  drunkenness,  the  lewd- 
ness, the  injustice,  the  falsehood,  the  pride,  the  pro- 
digality, the  base  selfishness,  and  stupid  insensibility 
about  the  spiritual  and  eternal  interests  of  themselves 
and  others,  which  so  generally  appear  among  us, 
loudly  proclaim  the  contrary.  So  that  one  would 
imagine,  upon  this  view,  that  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands  thought  the  neglect,  and  even  the  con- 
tempt of  religion,  were  a  glory,  rather  than  a  re- 


RELIGION    NOT    UNIVERSAL.  il 

proaeh.  And  where  is  the  neighborhood,  where  is 
the  society,  where  is  the  happy  family,  consisting 
of  any  considerable  number,  in  which,  on  a  more 
exact  examination,  we  find  reason  to  say,  "  religion 
fills  even  this  little  circle?"  There  is,  perhaps,  a 
freedom  from  any  gross  and  scandalous  immoralities, 
an  external  decency  of  behavior,  an  attendance  on 
the  outward  forms  of  worship  in  public,  and,  here 
and  there,  in  the  family ;  yet  amidst  all  this,  there  is 
nothing  which  looks  like  the  genuine  actings  of  the 
spiritual  and  divine  life.  There  is  no  appearance  of 
love  to  God,  no  reverence  of  his  presence,  no  desire 
of  his  favor  as  the  highest  good  :  there  is  no  cordial 
belief  of  the  Gospel  of  salvation  ;  no  eager  solicitude 
to  escape  that  condemnation  which  we  have  incurred 
by  sin ;  no  hearty  concern  to  secure  that  eternal  life 
which  Christ  has  purchased  and  secured  for  his  peo- 
ple, and  which  he  freely  promises  to  all  who  will 
receive  him.  Alas !  whatever  the  love  of  a  friend, 
or  even  a  parent  can  do ;  whatever  inclination  there 
may  be  to  hope  all  things,  and  believe  all  things 
the  most  favorable,  evidence  to  the^ontrary  will 
force  itself  upon  the  mind,  and  extort  the  unwilling 
conclusion,  that,  whatever  else  may  be  amiable  in 
this  dear  friend — in  that  favorite  child — "  religion 
dwells  not  in  his  breast." 

3.  To  a  heart  that  firmly  believes  the  Gospel,  and 
views  persons  and  things  in  the  light  of  eternity, 
this  is  one  of  the  most  mournful  considerations  in 


12    THE  WANT  OF  IT  TO  BE  LAMENTED 

the  world.  And  indeed,  to  such  a  one,  all  other 
calamities  and  evils  of  human  nature  appear  trifles, 
when  compared  with  this — the  absence  of  real  reli- 
gion, and  that  contrariety  to  it  which  reigns  in  so 
many  thousands  of  mankind.  Let  this  be  cured,  and 
all  the  other  evils  will  easily  be  borne ;  nay,  good 
will  be  extracted  out  of  them.  But  if  this  continue, 
it  "bringeth  forth  fruit  unto  death;"  (Rom.  7:5;) 
and  in  consequence  of  it,  multitudes,  who  share  the 
entertainments  of  an  indulgent  Providence  with  us, 
and  are  at  least  allied  to  us  by  the  bond  of  the  same 
common  nature,  must,  in  a  few  years,  be  swept  away 
into  utter  destruction,  and  be  plunged,  beyond  re- 
demption, into  everlasting  burnings. 

4.  I  doubt  not  but  there  are  many,  under  the  vari- 
ous forms  of  religious  profession,  who  are  not  only 
lamenting  this  in  public,  if  their  office  in  life  calls 
them  to  an  opportunity  of  doing  it ;  but  are  likewise 
mourning  before  God  in  secret,  under  a  sense  of  this 
sad  state  of  things  ;  and  who  can  appeal  to  Him  that 
searches  all  hearts,  as  to  the  sincerity  of  their  desires 
to  revive  the  knguishing  cause  of  vital  Christianity 
and  substantial  piety.  And  among  the  rest,  the  au- 
thor of  this  treatise  may  with  confidence  say,  it  is  this 
which  animates  him  to  the  present  attempt,  in  the 
midst  of  so  many  other  cares  and  labors.  For  this  he 
is  willing  to  lay  aside  many  of  those  curious  amuse- 
ments in  science  which  might  suit  his  own  private 
taste,  and  perhaps  open  a  way  for  some  reputation 


THE    AUTHOR'S    DESIGN.  13 

in  the  learned  world.  For  this  he  is  willing  to  wave 
the  labored  ornaments  of  speech,  that  he  may,  if  pos- 
sible, descend  to  the  capacity  of  the  lowest  part  of 
mankind.  For  this  he  would  endeavor  to  convince 
the  judgment,  and  to  reach  the  heart  of  every  reader : 
and,  in  a  word,  for  this,  without  any  dread  of  the 
name  of  an  enthusiast,  whoever  may  at  random  throw 
it  out  upon  the  occasion,  he  would,  as  it  were,  enter 
with  you  into  your  closet,  from  day  to  day ;  and  with 
all  plainness  and  freedom,  as  well  as  seriousness, 
would  discourse  to  you  of  the  great  things  which  he 
has  learned  from  the  Christian  revelation,  and  on 
which  he  assuredly  knows  your  everlasting  happi- 
ness to  depend ;  that,  if  you  hitherto  have  lived  with- 
out religion,  you  may  be  now  awakened  to  the  con- 
sideration of  it,  and  may  be  instructed  in  its  nature 
and  importance ;  or  that,  if  you  are  already,  through 
Divine  grace,  experimentally  acquainted  with  it,  you 
may  be  assisted  to  make  a  farther  progress. 

5.  But  he  earnestly  entreats  this  favor  of  you, 
that,  as  it  is  plainly  a  serious  business  we  are  enter- 
ing upon,  you  would  be  pleased  to  give  him  a  seri- 
ous and  an  active  hearing.  He  entreats  that  these 
addresses,  and  these  meditations,  may  be  perused  at 
leisure,  and  be  thought  over  in  retirement ;  and  that 
you  would  do  him  and  yourself  the  justice  to  be- 
lieve the  representations  which  are  here  made,  and 
the  warnings  which  are  here  given,  to  proceed  from 
sincerity  and  love,  from  a  heart  that  would  not  de- 


14  THE    AUTHOR'S    DESIGN. 

signedly  give  one  moment's  unnecessary  pain  to  the 
meanest  creature  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  much 
less  to  any  human  mind.  If  he  be  importunate,  it  is 
because  he  at  least  imagines  that  there  is  just  reason 
for  it,  and  fears,  lest,  amidst  the  multitudes  who  are 
undone  by  the  utter  neglect  of  religion,  and  among 
those  who  are  greatly  damaged  for  want  of  a  more  re- 
solute and  constant  attendance  to  it,  this  may  be  the 
case  of  some  into  whose  bands  this  treatise  may  fall. 
6.  He  is  a  barbarian,  and  deserves  not  to  be  called 
a  man,  who  can  look  upon  the  sorrows  of  his  fellow- 
creatures  without  drawing  out  his  soul  unto  them, 
and  wishing,  at  least,  that  it  were  in  the  power  of 
his  hand  to  help  them.  Surely  earth  would  be  a 
heaven  to  that  man  who  could  go  about  from  place 
to  place  scattering  happiness  wheresoever  he  came, 
though  it  were  only  the  body  that  he  were  capable  of 
relieving,  and  though  he  could  impart  nothing  better 
than  the  happiness  of  a  mortal  life.  But  the  happi- 
ness rises  in  proportion  to  the  nature  and  degree  of 
the  good  which  he  imparts.  Happy,  are  we  ready 
to  say,  were  those  honored  servants  of  Christ,  who, 
in  the  early  days  of  his  church,  were  the  benevolent 
and  sympathizing  instruments  of  conveying  miracu- 
lous healing  to  those  whose  cases  seemed  desperate ; 
who  poured  in  upon  the  blind  and  the  deaf  the  plea- 
sures of  light  and  sound,  and  called  up  the  dead  to 
the  powers  of  action  and  enjoyment.  But  this  is  an 
honor  and  happiness  which  it  is  not  fit  for  God  com- 


PLAN    OF    THE  WORK.  15 

monly  to  bestow  on  mortal  men.  Yet  there  have 
been,  in  every  age,  and  blessed  be  his  name,  there 
still  are  those  whom  he  has  condescended  to  make 
his  instruments  in  conveying  nobler  and  more  last- 
ing blessings  than  these  to  their  fellow-creatures. 
Death  has  Jong  since  veiled  the  eyes  and  stopped 
the  ears  of  Ihose  who  were  the  subjects  of  miracu- 
lous healing,  and  recovered  its  empire  over  those 
who  were  once  recalled  from  the  grave.  But  the 
souls  who  are  prevailed  upon  to  receive  the  Gospel, 
live  for  ever.  God  has  owned  the  labors  of  his  faith- 
ful ministers  in  every  age  to  produce  these  blessed 
effects  ;  and  some  of  them  "  being  dead,  yet  speak  " 
(Heb.  11 :  4,)  with  power  and  success  in  this  im- 
portant cause.  Wonder  not  then,  if,  living  and  dy- 
ing, I  be  ambitious  of  this  honor ;  and  if  my  mouth 
be  freely  opened,  where  I  can  truly  say,  "  my  heart 
is  enlarged."  (2  Cor.  6 :  11.) 

7.  In  forming  my  general  plan,  I  have  been  soli- 
citous that  this  little  treatise  might,  if  possible,  be 
useful  to  all  its  readers,  and  contain  something  suit- 
able to  each.  I  will  therefore  take  the  man  and  the 
Christian  in  a  great  variety  of  circumstances.  I 
will  first  suppose  myself  addressing  one  of  the  vast 
number  of  thoughtless  creatures  who  have  hitherto 
been  utterly  unconcerned  about  religion,  and  will  try 
what  can  be  done,  by  all  plainness  and  earnestness 
of  address,  to  awaken  him  from  this  fatal  lethargy,  to 
a  care,  (chap.  2,)  an  affectionate  and  an  immediate 


16  PLAN    OF    THE    WORK. 

care  about  it.  (chap.  3.)  I  will  labor  to  fix  a  deep 
and  awful  conviction  of  guilt  upon  his  conscience, 
(chap.  4,)  and  to  strip  him  of  his  vain  excuses  and 
his  nattering  hopes,  (chap.  5.)  I  will  read  to  him, 
O !  that  I  could  fix  on  his  heart  that  sentence,  that 
dreadful  sentence,  which  a  righteous  and  an  Al- 
mighty God  hath  denounced  against  him  as  a  sin- 
ner, (chap.  6,)  and  endeavor  to  show  him  in  how 
helpless  a  state  he  lies  under  this  condemnation,  as 
to  any  capacity  he  has  of  delivering  himself,  (chap. 
7.)  But  I  do  not  mean  to  leave  any  in  so  terrible  a 
situation :  I  will  joyfully  proclaim  the  glad  tidings 
of  pardon  and  salvation  by  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord, 
which  is  all  the  support  and  confidence  of  my  own 
soul.  (chap.  8.)  And  then  I  will  give  some  general 
view  of  the  way  by  which  this  salvation  is  to  be  ob- 
tained ;  (chap.  9,)  urging  the  sinner  to  accept  of  it 
as  affectionately  as  I  can;  (chap.  10,)  though  no- 
thing can  be  sufficiently  pathetic,  where,  as  in  this 
matter,  the  life  of  an  immortal  soul  is  in  question. 

8.  Too  probable  it  is  that  some  will,  after  all  this, 
remain  insensible  ;  and  therefore  that  their  sad  case 
may  not  encumber  the  following  articles,  I  shall  here 
take  a  solemn  leave  of  them;  (chap.  11,)  and  then 
shall  turn  and  address  myself,  as  compassionately  as 
I  can,  to  a  most  contrary  character ;  I  mean,  to  a. 
soul  overwhelmed  with  a  sense  of  the  greatness  of 
its  sins,  and  trembling  under  the  burden,  as  if  there 
were  no  more  hope  for  him  in  God.  (chap.  12.)    And 


PLAN    OF    THE    WORK.  17 

that  nothing  may  be  omitted  which  may  give  solid 
peace  to  the  troubled  spirit,  I  shall  endeavor  to  guide 
its  inquiries  as  to  the  evidences  of  sincere  repentance 
and  faith;  (chap.  13,)  which  will  be  farther  illustra- 
ted by  a  more  particular  view  of  the  several  branches 
of  the  Christian  temper,  such  as  may  serve  at  once 
to  assist  the  reader  in  judging  what  he  is,  and  to 
show  him  what  he  should  labor  to  be.  (chap.  14.) 
This  will  naturally  lead  to  a  view  of  the  need  we 
have  of  the  influences  of  the  blessed  Spirit  to  assist 
us  in  the  important  and  difficult  work  of  the  true 
Christian,  and  of  the  encouragement  we  have  to 
hope  for  such  divine  assistance,  (chap.  15.)  In  an 
humble  dependence  on  which,  I  shall  then  enter  on 
the  consideration  of  several  cases  which  often  occur 
in  the  Christian  life,  in  which  particular  addresses 
to  the  conscience  may  be  requisite  and  useful. 

9.  As  some  peculiar  difficulties  and  discourage- 
ments attend  the  first  entrance  on  a  religious  course, 
it  will  here  be  our  first  care  to  animate  the  young 
convert  against  them.  (chap.  16.)  And  that  it  may 
be  done  more  effectually,  I  shall  urge  a  solemn  dedi- 
cation of  himself  to  God,  (chap.  17,)  to  be  confirmed 
by  entering  into  a  communion  of  the  church,  and  an 
approach  to  the  sacred  table,  (chap.  18.)  That  these 
engagements  may  be  more  happily  fulfilled,  we  shall 
endeavor  to  draw  a  more  particular  plan  of  that  de- 
vout, regular  and  accurate  course,  which  ought  daily 
to  be  attended  to.  (chap.  19.)    And  because  the  idea 


18  PLAN    OF    THE    WORK. 

will  probably  rise  so  much  higher  than  what  is  the 
general  practice,  even  of  good  men,  we  shall  en- 
deavor to  persuade  the  reader  to  make  the  attempt, 
hard  as  it  may  seem ;  (chap.  20,)  and  shall  caution 
him  against  various  temptations,  which  might  other- 
wise draw  him  aside  to  negligence  and  sin.  (chap. 
21.) 

1 0.  Happy  will  it  be  for  the  reader,  if  these  ex- 
hortations and  cautions  be  attended  to  with  becoming 
regard ;  but  as  it  is,  alas !  too  probable  that,  notwith- 
standing all,  the  infirmities  of  nature  will  sometimes 
prevail,  we  shall  consider  the  case  of  deadness  and 
languor  in  religion,  which  often  steals  upon  us  by 
insensible  degrees;  (chap.  22,)  from  whence  there 
is  too  easy  a  passage  to  that  terrible  one  of  a  return 
into  known  and  deliberate  sin.  (chap.  23.)  And  as 
the  one  or  the  other  of  these  tends  in  a  proportionable 
degree  to  provoke  the  blessed  God  to  hide  his  face, 
and  his  injured  Spirit  to  withdraw,  that  melancholy 
condition  will  be  taken  into  particular  survey,  (chap. 
24.)  I  shall  then  take  notice  also  of  the  case  of  great 
and  heavy  afflictions  in  life,  (chap.  25,)  a  discipline 
which  the  best  of  men  have  reason  to  expect,  espe- 
cially when  they  backslide  from  God  and  yield  to 
their  spiritual  enemies. 

11.  Instances  of  this  kind  will,  I  fear,  be  too  fre- 
quent ;  yet,  I  trust,  there  will  be  many  others,  whose 
path,  like  the  dawning  light,  will  "  shine  more  and 
more  unto  the  perfect  day."  Prov.  4:18.  And  there- 


PLAN    OF    THE    WORK.  19 

fore  we  shall  endeavor,  in  the  best  manner  we  can, 
to  assist  the  Christian  in  passing"  a  true  judgment  on 
the  growth  of  grace  in  his  heart,  (chap.  26,)  as  we 
had  done  before  in  judging  of  its  sincerity.  And  as 
nothing  conduces  more  to  the  advancement  of  grace 
than  the  lively  exercise  of  love  to  God,  and  a  holy 
joy  in  him,  we  shall  here  remind  the  real  Christian 
of  those  mercies  which  tend  to  excite  that  love  and 
joy ;  (chap.  27,)  and  in  the  view  of  them  to  animate 
him  to  those  vigorous  efforts  of  usefulness  in  life, 
which  so  well  become  his  character,  and  will  have  so 
happy  an  efficacy  in  brightening  his  crown,  (chap. 
28.)  Supposing  him  to  act  accordingly,  we  shall 
then  labor  to  illustrate  and  assist  the  delight  with 
which  he  may  look  forward  to  the  awful  solemnities 
of  death  and  judgment,  (chap.  29.)  And  shall  close 
the  scene  by  accompanying  him,  as  it  were,  to  the 
nearest  confines  of  that  dark  valley  through  which 
he  is  to  pass  to  glory ;  giving  him  such  directions  as 
may  seem  most  subservient  to  his  honoring  God  and 
adorning  religion  by  his  dying  behavior,  (chap.  30.) 
Nor  am  I  without  a  pleasing  hope,  that,  through  the 
Divine  blessing  and  grace,  I  may  be,  in  some  in- 
stances, so  successful  as  to  leave  those  triumphing  in 
the  views  of  judgment  and  eternity,  and  glorifying 
God  by  a  truly  Christian  life  and  death,  whom  I 
found  trembling  in  the  apprehensions  of  future  mis- 
ery ;  or,  perhaps,  in  a  much  more  dangerous  and 
miserable  condition  than  that ;  I  mean,  entirely  for- 


20         PRAYER    FOR    SUCCESS    OF    THE    WORK. 

getting  the  prospect,  and  sunk  in  the  most  stupid  in- 
sensibility of  those  things,  for  an  attendance  to  which 
the  human  mind  was  formed,  and  in  comparison  of 
which  all  the  pursuits  of  this  transitory  life  are 
emptier  than  wind  and  lighter  than  a  feather. 

12.  Such  a  variety  of  heads  must,  to  be  sure,  be 
handled  but  briefly,  as  we  intend  to  bring  them  with- 
in the  bulk  of  a  moderate  volume.  I  shall  not,  there- 
fore, discuss  them  as  a  preacher  might  properly  do 
in  sermons,  in  which  the  truths  of  religion  are  pro- 
fessedly to  be  explained  and  taught,  defended  and 
improved,  in  a  wide  variety,  and  long  detail  of  pro- 
positions, arguments,  objections,  replies,  and  inferen- 
ces, marshalled  and  numbered  under  their  distinct 
generals.  I  shall  here  speak  in  a  looser  and  freer  man- 
ner, as  a  friend  to  a  friend;  just  as  I  would  do  if  I 
were  to  be  in  person  admitted  to  a  private  audience 
by  one  whom  I  tenderly  loved,  and  whose  circum- 
stances and  character  I  knew  to  be  like  that  which 
the  title  of  one  chapter  or  another  of  this  treatise  de- 
scribes. And  when  I  have  discoursed  with  him  a 
little  while,  which  will  seldom  be  so  long  as  half  an 
hour,  shall,  as  it  were,  step  aside,  and  leave  him  to 
meditate  on  what  he  has  heard,  or  endeavor  to  assist 
him  in  such  fervent  addresses  to  God  as  it  may  be 
proper  to  mingle  with  those  meditations.  Tn  the  mean 
time,  I  will  here  take  the  liberty  to  pray  over  my 
reader  and  my  work,  and  to  commend  it  solemnly 
to  the  Divine  blessing,  in  token  of  my  deep  convic- 


PRAYER    FOR    SUCCESS    OF    THE    WORK.  21 

tion  of  an  entire  dependence  upon  it.  And  I  am  well 
persuaded  that  sentiments  like  these  are  common, 
in  the  general,  to  every  faithful  minister,  to  every 
real  Christian. 

A  Prayer  for  the  Success  of  this  Work,  in  promoting  the  Rise 
and  Progress  of  Religion. 

"  O  thou  great  eternal  Original,  and  Author  of  all 
created  being  and  happiness !  I  adore  thee,  who  hast 
made  man  a  creature  capable  of  religion,  and  hast 
bestowed  this  dignity  and  felicity  upon  our  nature, 
that  it  may  be  taught  to  say,  Where  is  God  our  ma- 
ker ?  Job,  35  :  10.  I  lament  that  degeneracy  spread 
over  the  whole  human  race,  which  has  "turned  our 
glory  into  shame,"  (Hos.  4 :  7,)  and  has  rendered  the 
forgetfulness  of  God,  unnatural  as  it  is,  so.  common 
and  so  universal  a  disease.  Holy  Father,  we  know 
it  is  thy  presence,  and  thy  teaching  alone,  that  can 
reclaim  thy  wandering  children,  can  impress  a  sense 
of  Divine  things  on  the  heart,  and  render  that  sense 
lasting  and  effectual.  From  thee  proceed  all  good 
purposes  and  desires ;  and  this  desire,  above  all,  of 
diffusing  wisdom,  piety,  and  happiness  in  this  world, 
which  (though  sunk  in  such  deep  apostacy)  thine 
infinite  mercy  has  not  utterly  forsaken. 

"  Thou  '  knowest,  O  Lord,  the  hearts  of  the  chil- 
dren of  men ;'  (2  Chron.  6  :  30 ;)  and  an  upright  soul, 
in  the  midst  of  all  the  censures  and  suspicions  it  may 
meet  with,  rejoices  in  thine  intimate  knowledge  of 


22         PRAYER    FOR    SUCCESS    OF    THE    WORK. 

its  most  secret  sentiments  and  principles  of  action. 
Thou  knowest  the  sincerity  and  fervency  with  which 
thine  unworthy  servant  desires  to  spread  the  know- 
ledge of  thy  name,  and  the  savor  of  thy  Gospel, 
among  all  to  whom  this  work  may  reach.  Thou 
knowest  that,  hadst  thou  given  him  an  abundance  of 
this  world,  it  would  have  been,  in  his  esteem,  the  no- 
blest pleasure  that  abundance  could  have  afforded 
to  have  been  thine  almoner  in  distributing  thy  boun- 
ties to  the  indigent  and  necessitous,  and  so  causing 
the  sorrowful  heart  to  rejoice  in  thy  goodness,  dis- 
pensed through  his  hands.  Thou  knowest,  that, 
hadst  thou  given  him,  either  by  ordinary  or  extraor- 
dinary methods,  the  gift  of  healing,  it  would  have 
been  his  daily  delight  to  relieve  the  pains,  the  ma- 
ladies, and  the  infirmities  of  men's  bodies  ;  to  have 
seen  the  languishing  countenance  brightened  by  re- 
turning health  and  cheerfulness  ;  and  much  more  to 
have  beheld  the  roving,  distracted  mind  reduced  to 
calmness  and  serenity  in  the  exercise  of  its  rational 
faculties.  Yet  happier,  far  happier  will  he  think 
himself,  in  those  humble  circumstances  in  which  thy 
providence  hath  placed  him,  if  thou  vouchsafe  to  ho- 
nor these  his  feeble  endeavors  as  the  means  of  re- 
lieving and  enriching  men's  minds ;  of  recovering 
them  from  the  madness  of  a  sinful  state,  and  bringing 
back  thy  reasonable  creatures  to  the  knowledge,  the 
service,  and  the  enjoyment  of  their  God ;  or  of  im- 
proving those  who  are  already  reduced. 


PRAYER    FOR    SUCCESS    OF    THE    WORK.  23 

"  O  may  it  have  that  blessed  influence  on  the  per- 
son, whosoever  he  be,  that  is  now  reading  these 
lines,  and  all  who  may  read  or  hear  them !  Let  not 
my  Lord  be  angry  if  I  presume  to  ask,  that,  how- 
ever weak  and  contemptible  this  work  may  seem  in 
the  eyes  of  the  children  of  this  world,  and  however 
imperfect  it  really  be,  as  well  as  the  author  of  it  un- 
worthy, it  may  nevertheless  live  before  thee ;  and, 
through  a  divine  power,  be  mighty  to  produce  the 
rise  and  progress  of  religion  in  the  minds  of  multi- 
tudes in  distant  places,  and  in  generations  yet  to 
come  !  Impute  it  not,  O  God,  as  a  culpable  ambition, 
if  I  desire  that,  whatever  becomes  of  my  name,  about 
which  I  would  not  lose  one  thought  before  thee,  this 
work,  to  which  I  am  now  applying  myself  in  thy 
strength,  may  be  completed  and  propagated  far 
abroad :  that  it  may  reach  to  those  that  are  yet  un- 
born, and  teach  them  thy  name  and  thy  praise,  when 
the  author  has  long  dwelt  in  the  dust ;  that  so,  when 
he  shall  appear  before  thee  in  the  great  day  of  final 
account,  his  joy  may  be  increased,  and  his  crown 
brightened,  by  numbers  before  unknown  to  each 
other,  and  to  him !  But  if  this  petition  be  too  great 
to  be  granted  to  one  who  pretends  no  claim  but  thy 
sovereign  grace  to  hope  for  being  favored  with  the 
least,  give  him  to  be,  in  thine  Almighty  hand,  the 
blessed  instrument  of  converting  and  saving  one 
soul ;  and  if  it  be  but  one,  and  that  the  weakest  and 
meanest  of  those  who  are  capable  of  receiving  this 


24    PRAYER  FOR  SUCCESS  OF  THE  WORK. 

address,  it  shall  be  most  thankfully  accepted  as  a 
rich  recompense  for  all  the  thought  and  labor  it  may- 
cost;  and  though  it  should  be  amidst  a  thousand 
disappointments  with  respect  to  others,  yet  it  shall 
be  the  subject  of  immortal  songs  of  praise  to  thee,  O 
blessed  God,  for  and  by  every  soul  whom,  through 
the  blood  of  Jesus  and  the  grace  of  thy  Spirit,  thou 
hast  saved ;  and  everlasting  honors  shall  be  ascribed 
to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and  to  the  Holy  Spirit, 
by  the  innumerable  company  of  angels,  and  by  the 
general  assembly  and  church  of  the  first-born  in 
heaven.     Amen.'' 


CARELESS    SINNER    AWAKENED.  25 


CHAPTER    II. 


THE  CARELESS   SINNER  AWAKENED. 

1.  2.  It  is  too  supposable  a  case  that  this  Treatise  may  come 
into  such  hands.— 3.  4.  Since  many,  not  grossly  vicious,  fall 
under  that  character. — 5.  6.  A  more  particular  illustration 
of  this  case,  with  an  appeal  to  the  reader,  whether  it  be  not  his 
own. — 7  to  9.  Expostulation  with  such. — 10  to  12.  More  par- 
ticularly— From  acknowledged  principles  relating  to  the 
Nature  of  God,  his  universal  presence,  agency,  and  perfec- 
tion.— 13.  From  a  view  of  personal  obligations  to  him. — 14. 
From  the  danger  of  this  neglect,  when  considered  in  its  as- 
pect on  a  future  state. — 15.  An  appeal  to  the  conscience  as 
already  convinced. — 16.  Transition  to  the  subject  of  the  next 
chapter. —  The  meditation  of  a  sinner,  who,  having  been  long 
thoughtless,  begins  to  be  awakened. 

1.  Shamefully  and  fatally  as  religion  is  neglect- 
ed in  the  world,  yet,  blessed  be  God,  it  has  some  sin- 
cere disciples,  children  of  wisdom,  by  whom,  even 
in  this  foolish  and  degenerate  age,  it  "  is  justified :" 
(Matt.  ix.  18.)  who  having,  by  Divine  grace,  been 
brought  to  the  knowledge  of  God  in  Christ,  have 
faithfully  devoted  their  hearts  to  him,  and,  by  a  na- 
tural consequence,  are  devoting  their  lives  to  his 
service.  Could  I  be  sure  this  Treatise  would  fall 
into  no  hands  but  theirs,  my  work  would  be  shorter, 
easier,  and  more  pleasant. 


26  MANY    NOT    GROSSLY    VICIOUS. 

2.  But  among  the  thousands  that  neglect  religion, 
it  is  more  than  probable  that  some  of  my  readers 
may  be  included ;  and  I  am  so  deeply  affected  with 
their  unhappy  case,  that  the  temper  of  my  heart,  as 
well  as  the  proper  method  of  my  subject,  leads  me, 
in  the  first  place,  to  address  myself  to  such :  to  apply 
to  every  one  of  them ;  and  therefore  to  you,  O  reader, 
whoever  you  are,  who  may  come  under  the  denomi- 
nation of  a  careless  sinner. 

3.  Be  not,  I  beseech  you,  angry  at  the  name.  The 
physicians  of  souls  must  speak  plainly,  or  they  may 
murder  those  whom  they  should  cure.  I  would  make 
no  harsh  and  unreasonable  supposition,  I  would 
charge  you  with  nothing  more  than  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  convince  you  that  you  are  the  person  to 
whom  I  speak.  I  will  not,  therefore,  imagine  you 
to  be  a  profane  and  abandoned  profligate.  I  will  not 
suppose  that  you  allow  yourself  to  blaspheme  God, 
to  dishonour  his  name  by  customary  swearing,  or 
grossly-  to  violate  his  Sabbath,  or  commonly  to  ne- 
glect the  solemnities  of  his  public  worship ;  I  will 
not  imagine  that  you  have  injured  your  neighbors, 
in  their  lives,  their  chastity,  or  their  possessions, 
either  by  violence  or  by  fraud ;  or  that  you  have 
scandalously  debased  the  rational  nature  of  man,  by 
that  vile  intemperance  which  transforms  us  into  the 
worst  kind  of  brutes,  or  something  beneath  them. 

4.  In  opposition  to  all  this,  I  will  suppose  that  you 
believe  the  existence  and  providence  of  God,  and  the 


MANY    NOT    GROSSLY    VICIOUS.  27 

truth  of  Christianity  as  a  revelation  from  him:  of 
which,  if  you  have  any  doubt,  I  must  desire  that  you 
would  immediately  seek  your  satisfaction  elsewhere.* 
I  say,  immediately ;  because  not  to  believe  it,  is  in 
effect  to  disbelieve  it;  and  will  make  your  ruin 
equally  certain,  though  perhaps  it  may  leave  it  less 
aggravated  than  if  contempt  and  opposition  had  been 
added  to  suspicion  and  neglect.  But  supposing  you 
to  be  a  nominal  Christian,  and  not  a  deist  or  a  scep- 
tic, I  will  also  suppose  your  conduct  among  men  to 
be  not  only  blameless,  but  amiable ;  and  that  they 
who  know  you  most  intimately,  must  acknowledge 
that  you  are  just  and  sober,  humane  and  courteous, 
compassionate  and  liberal;  yet,  with  all  this,  you 
may  "lack that  one  thing"  (Mark,  10:  21.)  on  which 
your  eternal  happiness  depends. 

5.  I  beseech  you,  reader,  whoever  you  are,  that 
you  would  now  look  seriously  into  your  own  heart, 
and  ask  it  this  one  plain  question ;  Am  I  truly  reli- 
gious 1  Is  the  love  of  God  the  governing  principle 
of  my  life?  Do  I  walk  under  the  sense  of  his  pre- 
sence 1  Do  I  converse  with  him  from  day  to  day,  in 
the 'exercise  of  prayer  and  praise  1  And  am  I,  on  the 
whole,  making  his  service  my  business  and  my  de- 
lighc,  regarding  him  as  my  master  and  my  father  ? 

*  In  such  a  case,  I  beg  leave  to  refer  the  reader  to  my 
three  sermons  on  the  Evidence  of  Christianity,  and  the  last 
of  the  ten  on  the  Power  and  Grace  of  Christ ;  in  which  he 
may  see  the  hitherto  unshaken  foundations  of  my  own  faith, 
in  a  short  and  I  hope  a  clear  view. 


28  APPEAL    TO    THE    READER. 

6.  It  is  my  present  business  only  to  address  my- 
self to  the  person  whose  conscience  answers  in  the 
negative.  And  I  would  address,  with  equal  plain- 
ness and  equal  freedom,  to  high  and  low,  to  rich  and 
poor :  to  you,  who,  as  the  Scripture  with  a  dreadful 
propriety  expresses  it,  "live  without  God  in  the 
world !"  (Eph.  2 :  12.)  and  while  in  words  and  forms 
you  "  own  God,  deny  him  in  your  actions,"  (Tit.  1 : 
16.)  and  behave  yourselves  in  the  main,  a  few  ex- 
ternal ceremonies  only  excepted,  just  as  you  would 
do  if  you  believed  and  were  sure  there  is  no  God. 
Unhappy  creature,  whoever  you  are !  your  own 
heart  condemns  you  immediately!  and  how  much 
more  that  "  God  who  is  greater  than  your  heart,  and 
knoweth  all  things."  1  John,  3  :  20.  He  is  in  "  se- 
cret," (Matt.  6:  6.)  as  well  as  in  public;  and  words 
cannot  express  the  delight  with  which  his  children 
converse  with  him  alone :  but  in  secret  you  acknow- 
ledge him  not :  you  neither  pray  to  him,  nor  praise 
him  in  your  retirements.  Accounts,  correspondences, 
studies,  may  often  bring  you  into  your  closet ;  but  if 
nothing  but  devotion  were  to  be  transacted  there,  it 
would  be  to  you  quite  an  unfrequented  place.  And 
thus  you  go  on  from  day  to  day  in  a  continual  for- 
getfulness  of  God,  and  are  as  thoughtless  about  reli- 
gion as  if  you  had  long  since  demonstrated  to  your- 
self that  it  was  a  mere  dream.  If,  indeed,  you  are 
sick,  you  will  perhaps  cry  to  God  for  health :  in  any 
extreme  danger  you  will  lift  up  your  eyes  and  voice 


APPEAL    TO    THE    READER.  29 

for  deliverance:  but  as  for  the  pardon  of  sin, 'and  the 
other  blessings  of  the  Gospel,  you  are  not  at  all  in- 
wardly solicitous  about  them ;  though  you  profess 
to  believe  that  the  Gospel  is  divine,  and  the  bless- 
ings of  it  eternal.  All  your  thoughts,  and  all  your 
hours  are  divided  between  the  business  and  the 
amusements  of  life ;  and  if  now  and  then  an  awful 
providence,  or  a  serious  sermon  or  book  awakens 
you,  it  is  but  a  few  days,  or  it  may  be  a  few  hours, 
and  you  are  the  same  careless  creature  you  ever 
were  before.  On  the  whole,  you  act  as  if  you  were 
resolved  to  put  it  to  the  venture,  and  at  your  own  ex- 
pense to  make  the  experiment,  whether  the  conse- 
quences of  neglecting  religion  be  indeed  as  terrible 
as  its  ministers  and  friends  have  represented.  Their 
remonstrances  do  indeed  sometimes  force  themselves 
upon  you,  as  (considering  the  age  and  country  in 
which  you  live,)  it  is  hardly  possible  entirely  to 
avoid  them ;  but  you  have,  it  may  be,  found  out  the 
art  of  Isaiah's  people,  "  hearing  to  hear,  and  not  un- 
derstand; and  seeing  to  see,  and  not  perceive:  your 
heart  is  waxed  gross,  your  eyes  are  closed,  and  your 
ears  heavy."  Isa.  6:  9,  10.  Under  the  very  ordi- 
nances of  worship  your  thoughts  "  are  at  the  ends  of 
the  earth."  Prov.  17:24.  Every  amusement  of  the 
imagination  is  welcome,  if  it  may  but  lead  away 
your  mind  from  so  insipid  and  so  disagreeable  a  sub- 
ject as  religion.  And  probably  the  very  last  time  you 
were  in  a  worshipping  assembly,  you  managed  just 
3* 


30  APPEAL    TO    THE     READER. 

as  you  would  have  done  if  you  had  thought  God 
knew  nothing  of  your  behaviour,  or  as  if  you  did  not 
think  it  worth  one  single  care  whether  he  were 
pleased  or  displeased  with  it. 

7.  Alas  !  is  it  then  come  to  this,  with  all  your  be- 
lief of  God,  and  providence,  and  Scripture,  that  reli- 
gion is  not  worth  a  thought?  That  it  is  not  worth 
one  hour's  serious  consideration  and  reflection, 
"  What  God  and  Christ  are,  and  what  you  your- 
selves are,  and  what  you  must  hereafter  be  ?"  Where 
then  are  your  rational  faculties  %  How  are  they  em- 
ployed, or  rather  how  are  they  stupified  and  be- 
numbed % 

8.  The  certainty  and  importance  of  the  things  of 
which  I  speak  are  so  evident,  from  the  principles 
which  you  yourselves  grant,  that  one  might  almost 
set  a  child  or  an  idiot  to  reason  upon  them.  And 
yet  they  are  neglected  by  those  who  are  grown  up 
to  understanding,  and  perhaps  some  of  them  to  such 
refinement  of  understanding  that  they  would  think 
themselves  greatly  injured  if  they  were  not  to  be 
reckoned  among  the  politer  and  more  learned  part 
of  mankind. 

9.  But  it  is  not  your  neglect,  Sirs,  that  can  destroy 
the  being  or  importance  of  such  things  as  these.  It 
may  indeed  destroy  you,  but  it  cannot  in  the  least 
affect  them.  Permit  me,  therefore,  having  been  my- 
self awakened,  to  come  to  each  of  you,  and  say,  as 
the  mariners  did  to  Jonah  while  asleep  in  the  midst 


APPEAL    TO    THE    READER.  31 

of  a  much  less  dangerous  storm,  "  What  meanest 
thou,  O  sleeper?  Arise  and  call  upon  thy  God." 
Jonah,  1:6.  Do  you  doubt  as  to  the  reasonableness 
or  necessity  of  doing-  it?  "I  will  demand,  and  an- 
swer me;"  (Job,  38:3.)  answer  me  to  your  own 
conscience,  as  one  that  must,  ere  long,  render  ano- 
ther kind  of  account. 

10.  You  own  that  there  is  a  God,  and  well  you 
may,  for  you  cannot  open  your  eyes  but  you  must 
see  the  evident  proofs  of  his  being,  his  presence,  and 
his  agency.  You  behold  him  around  you  in  every 
object.  You  feel  him  within  you,  if  I  may  so  speak, 
in  every  vein  and  in  every  nerve.  You  see  and 
you  feel  not  only  that  he  hath  formed  you  with  an 
exquisite  wisdom  which  no  mortal  man  could  ever 
fully  explain  or  comprehend,  but  that  he  is  con- 
tinually near  you,  wherever  you  are,  and  however 
you  are  employed,  by  day  or  by  night ;  "  in  him 
you  live,  and  move,  and  have  your  being."  Acts, 
17  :  28.  Common  sense  will  tell  you  that  it  is  not 
your  own  wisdom,  and  power,  and  attention  that 
causes  your  heart  to  beat  and  your  blood  to  circu- 
late ;  that  draws  in  and  sends  out  that  breath  of  life, 
that  precarious  breath  of  a  most  uncertain  life,  "  that 
is  in  your  nostrils."  Isa.  2 :  22.  These  things  are 
done  when  you  sleep,  as  well  as  in  those  waking 
moments  when  you  think  not  of  the  circulation  of 
the  blood,  or  of  the  necessity  of  breathing,  or  so 
much  as  recollect  that  you  have  a  heart  or  lungs. 


32  CARE    AND    PRESENCE    OF    GOD. 

Now,  what  is  this  but  the  hand  of  God,  perpetually 
supporting  and  actuating  those  curious  machines 
that  he  has  made? 

11.  Nor  is  this  his  care  limited  to  you  ;  but  if  you 
look  all  around  you,  far  as  your  view  can  reach, 
you  see  it  extending  itself  on  every  side :  and,  oh ! 
how  much  farther  than  you  can  trace  it !  Reflect  on 
the  light  and  heat  which  the  sun  every  where  dis- 
penses ;  on  the  air  which  surrounds  all  our  globe ; 
on  the  right  temperature  on  which  the  life  of  the 
whole  human  race  depends,  and  that  of  all  the  infe- 
rior creatures  which  dwell  on  the  earth.  Think  of 
the  suitable  and  plentiful  provisions  made  for  man 
and  beast ;  the  grass,  the  grain,  the  variety  of  fruits, 
and  herbs,  and  flowers  ;  every  thing  that  nourishes 
us,  every  thing  that  delights  us,  and  say  whether  it 
does  not  speak  plainly  and  loudly  that  our  Al- 
mighty Maker  is  near,  and  that  he  is  careful  of  us, 
and  kind  to  us.  And  while  all  these  things  proclaim 
his  goodness,  do  not  they  also  proclaim  his  power  ? 
For  what  power  has  any  thing  comparable  to  that 
which  furnishes  out  those  gifts  of  royal  bounty;  and 
which,  unwearied  and  unchanged,  produces  con- 
tinually, from  day  to  day,  and  from  age  to  age,  such 
astonishing  and  magnificent  effects  over  the  face  of 
the  whole  earth,  and  through  all  the  regions  of 
heaven  ? 

12.  It  is  then  evident  that  God  is  present,  present 
with  you  at  this  moment ;  even  God  your  creator 


PERSONAL    OBLIGATIONS    TO    GOD.  33 

and  preserver,  God  the  creator  and  preserver  of  the 
whole  visible  and  invisible  world.  And  is  he  not 
present  as  a  most  observant  and  attentive  being? 
"  He  that  formed  the  eye,  shall  not  he  see  ?  He 
that  planted  the  ear,  shall  not  he  hear?  He  that 
teaches  man  knowledge,"  that  gives  him  his  rational 
faculties,  and  pours  in  upon  his  opening  mind  all 
the  light  it  receives  by  them,  "shall  not  he  know?" 
Psal.  94 :  9,  10.  He  who  sees  all  the  necessities  of 
his  creatures  so  seasonably  to  provide  for  them,  shall 
he  not  see  their  actions  too ;  and  seeing,  shall  he  not 
judge  them  ?  Has  he  given  us  a  sense  and  discrimi- 
nation of  what  is  good  and  evil,  of  what  is  true  and 
false,  of  what  is  fair  and  deformed  in  temper  and  con- 
duct ;  and  has  he  himself  no  discernment  of  these 
things  ?  Trifle  not  with  your  conscience,  which  tells 
you  at  once  that  he  judges  of  it,  and  approves  or  con- 
demns as  it  is  decent  or  indecent,  reasonable  or  un- 
reasonable ;  and  that  the  judgment  which  he  passes 
is  of  infinite  importance  to  all  his  creatures. 

13.  And  now  to  apply  all  this  to  your  own  case, 
let  me  seriously  ask  you,  is  it  a  decent  and  reasona- 
ble thing,  that  this  great  and  glorious  Benefactor 
should  be  neglected  by  his  rational  creatures — by 
those  that  are  capable  of  attaining  to  some  know- 
ledge of  him,  and  presenting  to  him  some  homage? 
Is  it  decent  and  reasonable  that  he  should  be  for- 
gotten and  neglected  by  you  ?  Are  you  alone,  of  all 
the  works  of  his  hands,  forgotten  or  neglected  by 


34  PERSONAL    OBLIGATIONS    TO    GOD. 

him  1  O  sinner,  thoughtless  as  you  are,  you  cannot 
dare  to  say  that,  or  even  to  think  it.  You  need  not 
go  back  to  the  helpless  days  of  your  infancy  and 
childhood  to  convince  you  of  the  contrary.  You 
need  not,  in  order  to  this,  recollect  the  remarkable 
deliverances  which  perhaps  were  wrought  out  for 
you  many  years  ago.  The  repose  of  the  last  night, 
the  refreshment  and  comfort  you  have  received  this 
day ;  yea,  the  mercies  you  are  receiving  this  very 
moment  bear  witness  to  him ;  and  yet  you  regard 
him  not.  Ungrateful  creature  that  you  are !  Could 
you  have  treated  any  human  benefactor  thus  ?  Could 
you  have  borne  to  neglect  a  kind  parent,  or  any 
generous  friend,  that  had  but  for  a  few  months  acted 
the  part  of  a  parent  to  you;  to  have  taken  no  notice 
of  him  while  in  his  presence  ;  to  have  returned  him 
no  thanks;  to  have  had  no  contrivances  to  make 
some  little  acknowledgment  for  all  his  goodness  1 
Human  nature,  bad  as  it  is,  is  not  fallen  so  low. 
Nay,  the  brutal  nature  is  not  so  low  as  this.  Surely 
every  domestic  animal  around  you  must  shame  such 
ingratitude.  If  you  do  but  for  a  few  days  take  a 
little  kind  notice  of  a  dog,  and  feed  him  with  the 
refuse  of  your  table,  he  will  wait  upon  you,  and  love 
to  be  near  you ;  he  will  be  eager  to  follow  you  from 
place  to  place,  and  when,  after  a  little  absence,  you 
return  home,  will  try,  by  a  thousand  fond,  trans- 
ported motions,  to  tell  you  how  much  he  rejoices  to 
see  you  again.     Nay,  brutes  far  less  sagacious  and 


VIEW    OF    A    FUTURE    STATE. 


35 


apprehensive  have  some  sense  of  our  kindness,  and 
express  it  after  their  way :  as  the  blessed  God  con- 
descends to  observe,  in  this  very  view  in  which  I 
mention  it,  "  The"  dull  "ox  knows  his  owner,  and 
the"  stupid  "  ass  his  master's  crib."  Isa.  1  :  3.  What 
lamentable  degeneracy  therefore  is  it,  that  you  do 
not  know — that  you,  who  have  been  numbered 
among  God's  professed  people,  do  not  and  will  not 
consider  your  numberless  obligations  to  him. 

14.  Surely,  if  you  have  any  ingenuousness  of  tem- 
per, you  must  be  ashamed  and  grieved  in  the  re- 
view ;  but  if  you  have  not,  give  me  leave  farther  to 
expostulate  with  you  on  this  head,  by  setting  it  in 
something  of  a  different  light.  Can  you  think  your- 
self safe,  while  you  are  acting  a  part  like  this?  Do 
you  not  in  your  conscience  believe  there  will  be  a 
future  judgment?  Do  you  not  believe  there  is  an 
invisible  and  eternal  world  ?  As  professed  Christians, 
we  all  believe  it ;  for  it  is  no  controverted  point,  but 
displayed  in  Scripture  with  so  clear  an  evidence, 
that,  subtle  and  ingenious  as  men  are  in  error,  they 
have  not  yet  found  out  a  way  to  evade  it.  And  be- 
lieving this,  do  you  not  see,  that,  while  you  are  thus 
wandering  from  God,  "  destruction  and  misery  are 
in  your  way  ?"  Rom.  3:16.  Will  this  indolence  and 
negligence  of  temper  be  any  security  to  you  ?  Will 
it  guard  you  from  death  ?  Will  it  excuse  you  from 
judgment  ?  You  might  much  more  reasonably  ex- 
pect that   shutting  your  eyes  would  be  a  defence 


36  VIEW    OF    A    FUTURE    STATE. 

against  the  rage  of  a  devouring  lion  ;  or  that  looking 
another  way  should  secure  your  body  from  being 
pierced  by  a  bullet  or  a  sword.  When  God  speaks 
of  the  extravagant  folly  of  some  thoughtless  creatures 
who  would  hearken  to  no  admonition  now,  he  adds, 
in  a  very  awful  manner,  "  In  the  latter  day  they  shall 
consider  it  perfectly."  Jer.  23  :  20.  And  is  not  this 
applicable  to  you?  Must  you  not  sooner  or  later 
be  brought  to  think  of  these  things,  whether  you  will 
or  not  ?  And  in  the  mean  time  do  you  not  certainly 
know  that  timely  and  serious  reflection  upon  them 
is,  through  divine  grace,  the  only  way  to  prevent 
your  ruin  ? 

15.  Yes,  sinner,  I  need  not  multiply  words  on  a 
subject  like  this.  Your  conscience  is  already  inward- 
ly convinced,  though  your  pride  may  be  unwilling  to 
own  it.  And  to  prove  it,  let  me  ask  you  one  question 
more :  Would  you,  upon  any  terms  and  considera- 
tions whatever,  come  to  a  resolution  absolutely  to  dis- 
miss all  farther  thought  of  religion,  and  all  care  about 
it,  from  this  day  and  hour,  and  to  abide  the  consequen- 
ces of  that  neglect  1  I  believe  hardly  any  man  living 
would  be  bold  enough  to  determine  upon  this.  I  be- 
lieve most  of  my  readers  would  be  ready  to  tremble 
at  the  thought  of  it. 

16.  But  if  it  be  necessary  to  take  these  things  into 
consideration  at  all,  it  is  necessary  to  do  it  quickly; 
for  life  itself  is  not  so  very  long  nor  so  certain,  that 
a  wise  man  should  risk  much  upon  its  continuance. 


MEDITATION    OF    A    SINNER.  37 

And  I  hope  to  convince  you  when  I  have  another 
hearing,  that  it  is  necessary  to  do  it  immediately, 
and  that  next  to  the  madness  of  resolving  you  will 
not  think  of  religion  at  all,  is  that  of  saying  you 
will  think  of  it  hereafter.  In  the  mean  time,  pause 
on  the  hints  which  have  been  already  given,  and 
they  will  prepare  you  to  receive  what  is  to  be  added 
on  that  head. 

The  Meditation  of  a  Sinner  who  was  once  thoughtless,  hut  be- 
gins to  be  awakened. 

"  Awake,  O  my  forgetful  soul,  awake  from  these 
wandering  dreams.  3?um  thee  from  this  chase  of 
vanity,  and  for  a  little  while  be  persuaded,  by  all 
these  considerations,  to  look  forward,  and  to  look 
upward,  at  least  for  a  few  moments.  Sufficient  are 
the  hours  and  days  given  to  the  labors  and  amuse- 
ments of  life.  Grudge  not  a  short  allotment  of  mi- 
nutes, to  view  thyself  and  thine  own  more  immediate 
concerns :  to  reflect  who  and  what  thou  art,  how  it 
comes  to  pass  that  thou  art  here,  and  what  thou  must 
quickly  be ! 

"  It  is  indeed  as  thou  hast  seen  it  now  represented. 
O  my  soul  1  thou  art  the  creature  of  God,  formed 
and  furnished  by  him,  and  lodged  in  a  body  which 
he  provided,  and  which  he  supports ;  a  body  in  which 
he  intends  thee  only  a  transitory  abode.  Oh  !  think 
how  soon  this  '  tabernacle '  must  be  «  dissolved,'  (2 
Cor.  5:1.)  and  thou  must  'return  to  God.'  Eccles, 
4 


38  MEDITATIONS    OF    A    SINNER. 

12:  7.  And  shall  He,  the  One,  Infinite,  Eternal, 
Ever-blessed,  and  Ever-glorious  Being,  shall  He  be 
least  of  all  regasded  by  thee  ?  Wilt  thou  live  and 
die  with  this  character,  saying,  by  every  action  of 
every  day,  unto  God,  '  Depart  from  me,  for  I  desire 
not  the  knowledge  of  thy  ways?'  Job,  21  :  14.  The 
morning,  the  day,  the  evening,  the  night,  every  peri- 
od of  time  has  its  excuses  for  this  neglect.  But  oh  ! 
my  soul,  what  will  these  excuses  appear  when  ex- 
amined by  his  penetrating  eye !  They  may  delude 
me,  but  they  cannot  impose  upon  him. 

"  O  thou  injured,  neglected,  provoked  Benefactor  ! 
When  I  think  but  for  a  moment  or  two  of  all  thy 
greatness  and  of  all  thy  goodness,  I  am  astonished 
at  this  insensibility  which  has  prevailed  in  my  heart, 
and  even  still  prevails  ;  I  '  blush  and  am  confounded 
to  lift  up  my  face  before  thee.'  Ezra,  9:6.  On  the 
most  transient  review,  I  '  see  that  I  have  played  the 
fool,'  that  « I  have  erred  exceedingly.'  1  Sam.  26 : 
21.  And  yet  this  stupid  heart  of  mine  would  make 
its  having  neglected  thee  so  long  a  reason  for  going 
on  to  neglect  thee.  I  own  it  might  justly  be  expect- 
ed, that,  with  regard  to  thee,  every  one  of  thy  ration- 
al creatures  should  be  ail  duty  and  love ;  that  each 
heart  should  be  full  of  a  sense  of  thy  presence;  and 
that  a  care  to  please  thee  should  swallow  up  every 
other  care.  Yet  thou  'hast  not  been  in  all  my 
thoughts-'  (Psal.  10:  4.)  and  religion,  the  end  and 
glory  of  my  nature,  has  been  so  strangely  overlook- 


WHO    BEGINS    TO    BE    AWAKENED.  39 

ed,  that  I  have  hardly  ever  seriously  asked  my  own 
heart  what  it  is.  I  know,  if  matters  rest  here,  I 
perish;  yet  I  feel  in  my  perverse  nature  a  secret 
indisposition  to  pursue  these  thoughts :  ?_  proneness, 
if  not  entirely  to  dismiss  them,  yet  to  lay  them  aside 
for  the  present  My  mind  is  perplexed  and  divided ; 
hut  I  am  sure,  thou,  who  madest  me,  knowest  what 
is  best  for  me.  I  therefore  beseech  thee  that  thou 
wilt,  « for  thy  name's  sake,  lead  me  and  guide  me.' 
Psal.  31:3.  Let  me  not  delay  till  it  is  for  ever  too 
late.  'Pluck  me  as  a  brand  out  of  the  burning! 
Amos,  4:11.  O  break  this  fatal  enchantment  that 
holds  down  my  affection  to  objects  which  my  judg- 
ment comparatively  despises  !  and  let  me,  at  length, 
come  into  so  happy  a  state  of  mind  that  I  may  not 
be  afraid  to  think  of  thee  and  of  myself,  and  may 
not  be  tempted  to  wish  that  thou  hadst  not  made  me, 
or  that  thou  couldst  for  ever  forget  me ;  that  it  may 
not  be  my  best  hope,  to  perish  like  the  brutes. 

"  If  what  I  shall  farther  read  here  be  agreeable  to 
Jruth  and  reason,  if  it  be  calculated  to  promote  my 
happiness,  and  is  to  be  regarded  as  an  intimation  of 
thy  will  and  pleasure  to  me,  O  God,  let  me  hear  and 
obey  !  Let  the  words  of  thy  servant,  when  pleading 
thy  cause,  be  like  goads  to  pierce  into  my  mind ! 
and  let  me  rather  feel,  and  smart,  than  die !  Let  them 
be  'as  nails  fastened  in  a  sure  place;'  (Eccl.  12: 
4.)  that  whatever  mysteries  as  yet  unknown,  or 
whatever  difficulties  there  be  in  religion,  if  it  be  ne- 


40  MEDITATIONS    OF    A    SINNER, 

cessary,  I  may  not  finally  neglect  it ;  and  that,  if  ft 
be  expedient  to  attend  immediately  to  it,  I  may  no 
longer  delay  that  attendance !  And,  oh  !  let  thy  grace 
teach  me  the  lesson  I  am  so  slow  to  learn,  and  con- 
quer that  strong  opposition  which  I  feel  in  my  heart 
against  the  very  thought  of  it !  Hear  these  broken 
cries,  for  the  sake  of  thy  Son,  who  has  taught  and 
saved  many  a  creature  as  untractable  as  I,  and  can 
•  out  of  stones  raise  up  children  unto  Abraham  i*  " 
Matt  3  :  9.     Amen. 


REGARD    TO    RELIGION    URGED.  41 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE    AWAKENED     SINNER    URGED    TO    IMMEDIATE     CONSIDERA- 
TION, AND   CAUTIONED   AGAINST  DELAY. 

1.  Sinners,  when  awakened,  inclined,  to  dismiss  convictions  for 
the  present. — 2.  An  immediate  regard  to  religion  urged. — 3. 
From  (ht  excellence  and  pleasure  of  the  thing  itself. — 4. 
From  the  uncertainty  of  that  future  time  on  which  sinners 
presume,  compared  with  the  sad  consequences  of  being  cut  off 
in  sin. — 5.  From  the  immutability  of  God's  present  de- 
mands.— 6.  From  the  tendency  which  delay  has  to  make  a 
compliance  with  these  demands  more  difficult  than  it  is  at 
present. — 7.  From  the  danger  of  God's  withdrawing  his  Spi- 
rit, compared  with  the  dreadful  case  of  a  sinner  given  up 
by  it. — 8.  Which  probably  is  now  the  case  of  many. — 9. 
Since,  therefore,  on  the  whole,  whatever  the  event  be,  delays 
may  prove  matter  of  lamentation. — 10.  The  chapter  con- 
cludes with  an  exhortation  against  yielding  to  them ;  and  a 
prayer  against  temptations  of  that  kind. 

1.  I  hope  my  last  address  so  far  awakened  the 
convictions  of  my  reader,  as  to  bring-  him  to  this  pur- 
pose, "that  some  time  or  other  he  would  attend  to 
religious  considerations."  But  give  me  leave  to  ask, 
earnestly  and  pointedly,  When  shall  that  be  ?  "  Go 
thy  way  for  this  time,  when  I  have  a  convenient  sea- 
son I  will  call  for  thee,"  (Acts,  xxiv.  25.)  was  the 

4. 


42  UNCERTAINTY    OP    LIFE. 

language  and  ruin  of  unhappy  Felix,  when  he  trem- 
bled under  the  reasonings  and  expostulations  of  the 
apostle.  The  tempter  presumed  not  to  urge  that  he 
should  give  up  all  thoughts  of  repentance  and  refor- 
mation ;  but  only  that,  considering  the  present  hurry 
of  his  affairs,  (as  no  doubt  they  were  many,)  he 
should  defer  it  to  another  day.  The  artifice  suc- 
ceeded, and  Felix  was  undone. 

2.  Will  you,  reader,  dismiss  me  thus  ?  For  your 
own  sake,  and  out  of  tender  compassion  to  your 
perishing,  immortal  soul,  I  would  not  willingly  take 
up  with  such  a  dismission  and  excuse — no,  not 
though  you  shall  fix  a  time;  though  you  shall  de- 
termine on  the  next  year,  or  month,  or  week,  or  day. 
I  would  turn  upon  you,  with  all  the  eagerness  and 
tenderness  of  friendly  importunity,  and  entreat  you 
to  bring  the  matter  to  an  issue  even  now.  For  if 
you  say,  "  I  will  think  on  these  things  to-morrow," 
I  shall  have  little  hope  ;  and  shall  conclude  that  all 
that  I  have  hitherto  urged,  and  all  that  you  have 
read,  has  been  offered  and  viewed  in  vain. 

3.  When  I  invite  you  to  the  care  and  practice  of 
religion,  it  may  seem  strange  that  it  should  be  ne- 
cessary for  me  affectionately  to  plead  the  cause  with 
you,  in  order  to  your  immediate  regard  and  compli- 
ance. What  I  am  inviting  you  to  is  so  noble  and 
excellent  in  itself,  so  well  worthy  of  the  dignity  of 
our  rational  nature,  so  suitable  to  it,  so  manly  and 
so  wise,  that  one  would  imagine  you  should  take 


UNCERTAINTY    OF    LIFE.  43 

fire,  as  it  were,  at  the  first  hearing  of  it;  yea,  that  so 
delightful  a  view  should  presently  possess  your 
whole  soul  with  a  kind  of  indignation  against  your- 
self, that  you  pursued  it  no  sooner. — "  May  I  lift  up 
my  eyes  and  my  soul  to  God  !  May  I  devote  my- 
self to  him  !  May  I  even  now  commence  a  friend- 
ship with  him — a  friendship  which  shall  last  for 
ever,  the  security,  the  delight,  the  glory  of  this  im- 
mortal nature  of  mine !  And  shall  I  draw  back  and 
say,  Nevertheless,  let  me  not  commence  this  friend- 
ship too  soon :  let  me  live  at  least  a  few  weeks  or  a 
few  days  longer  without  God  in  the  world?"  Surely 
it  would  be  much  more  reasonable  to  turn  inward, 
and  say,  "  O  my  soul,  on  what  vile  husks  hast  thou 
been  feeding,  while  thy  Heavenly  Father  has  been 
forsaken  and  injured  ?  Shall  I  desire  to  multiply  the 
days  of  my  poverty,  my  scandal,  and  my  misery  ?" 
On  this  principle,  surely  an  immediate  return  to  God 
should  in  all  reason  be  chosen,  rather  than  to  play 
the  fool  any  longer,  and  go  on  a  little  more  to  dis- 
please God,  and  thereby  starve  and  wound  your  own 
soul !  even  though  your  continuance  in  life  were 
ever  so  certain,  and  your  capacity  to  return  to  God 
and  your  duty  ever  so  entirely  in  your  power,  now, 
and  in  every  future  moment,  through  scores  of  years 
yet  to  come. 

4.  But  who  and  what  are  you,  that  you  should 
lay  your  account  for  years  or  for  months  to  come  ? 
"  What  is  your  life  ?    Is  it  not  even  as  a  vapor,  that 


44  DYING    UNPREPARED. 

appeareth  for  a  little  time,  and  then  vanisheth  away  ?" 
James,  4:  14.  And  what  is  your  security,  or  what 
is  your  peculiar  warrant,  that  you  should  thus  de- 
pend upon  the  certainty  of  its  continuance ;  and  that 
so  absolutely  as  to  venture,  as  it  were,  to  pawn  your 
soul  upon  it  1  Why,  you  will  perhaps  say,  "  I  am 
young,  and  in  all  my  bloom  and  vigor  ;  I  see  hun- 
dreds about  me  who  are  more  than  double  my  age, 
and  not  a  few  of  them  who  seem  to  think  it  too  soon 
to  attend  to  religion  yet." 

You  view  the  living,  and  you  talk  thus.  But  I 
beseech  you,  think  of  the  dead.  Return,  in  your 
thoughts,  to  those  graves  in  which  you  have  left 
some  of  your  young  companions  and  your  friends. 
You  saw  them  awhile  ago  gay  and  active,  warm 
with  life,  and  hopes,  and  schemes.  And  some  of  them 
would  have  thought  a  friend  strangely  importunate 
that  should  have  interrupted  them  in  their  business 
and  their  pleasures,  with  a  solemn  lecture  on  death 
and  eternity.  Yet  they  were  then  on  the  very  bor- 
ders of  both.  You  have  since  seen  their  corpses,  or 
at  least  their  coffins,  and  probably  carried  about  with 
you  the  badges  of  mourning  which  you  received  at 
their  funerals.  Those  once  vigorous,  and  perhaps 
beautiful  bodies  of  theirs,  now  lie  moldering  in  the 
dust,  as  senseless  and  helpless  as  the  most  decrepid 
pieces  of  human  nature  which  fourscore  years  ever 
brought  down  to  it.  And,  what  is  infinitely  more  to 
be  regarded,  their  souls,  whether  prepared  for  this 


DYING    UNPREPARED.  45 

great  change,  or  thoughtless  of  it,  have  made  their 
appearance  before  God,  and  are  at  this  moment  fixed, 
either  in  heaven  or  in  hell.  Now  let  me  seriously 
ask  you,  would  it  be  miraculous,  or  would  it  be 
strange,  if  such  an  event  should  befall  you  ?  How 
are  you  sure  that  some  fatal  disease  will  not  this 
day  begin  to  work  in  your  veins  ?  How  are  you 
sure  that  you  shall  ever  be  capable  of  reading 
or  thinking  any  more,  if  you  db  not  attend  to  what 
you  now  read,  and  pursue  the  thought  which  is 
now  offering  itself  to  your  mind?  This  sudden 
alteration  may  at  least  possibly  happen ;  and  if  it 
does,  it  will  be  to  you  a  terrible  one  indeed.  To  be 
thus  surprised  into  the  presence  of  a  forgotten  God ; 
to  be  torn  away,  at  once,  from  a  world  to  which  your 
whole  heart  and  soul  has  been  riveted — a  world  which 
has  engrossed  all  your  thoughts  and  cares,  all  your 
desires  and  pursuits ;  and  be  fixed  in  a  state  which  you 
never  could  be  so  far  persuaded  to  think  of,  as  to 
spend  so  much  as  one  hour  in  serious  preparation 
for  it :  how  must  you  even  shudder  at  the  apprehen- 
sion of  it,  and  with  what  horror  must  it  fill  you  ?  It 
seems  matter  of  wonder  that  in  such  circumstances 
you  are  not  almost  distracted  with  the  thoughts  of  the 
uncertainty  of  life,  and  are  not  even  ready  to  die  for 
fear  of  death.  To  trifle  with  God  any  longer,  after  so 
solemn  an  admonition  as  this,  would  be  a  circum- 
stance of  additional  provocation,  which,  after  all  the 
rest,  might  be  fatal ;  nor  is  there  any  thing  you  can 


46  WORK    DIFFICULT    BY    DELAY. 

expect  in  such  a  case,  but  that  he  should  cut  you  off 
immediately,  and  teach  other  thoughtless  creatures, 
by  your  ruin,  what  a  hazardous  experiment  they 
make  when  they  act  as  you  are  acting. 

5.  And  will  you,  after  all,  run  this  desperate  risk  ? 
For  what  imaginable  purpose  can  you  do  it  ?  Do 
you  think  the  business  of  religion  will  become  less 
necessary  or  more  easy  by  your  delay  ?  You  know 
that  it  will  not.  You  know,  that  whatever  the  bless- 
ed God  demands  now,  he  will  also  demand  twenty 
or  thirty  years  hence,  if  you  should  live  to  see  the 
time.  God  has  fixed  his  method,  in  which  he  will 
pardon  and  accept  sinners  in  his  Gospel.  And  will 
he  ever  alter  that  method  ?  Or  if  he  will  not,  can 
men  alter  it  ?  You  like  not  to  think  of  repenting,  and 
humbling  yourself  before  God,  to  receive  righteous- 
ness and  life  from  his  free  grace  in  Christ ;  and  you, 
above  all,  dislike  the  thought  of  returning  to  God  in 
the  ways  of  holy  obedience.  But  will  he  ever  dis- 
pense with  any  of  these,  and  publish  a  new  Gospel, 
with  promises  of  life  and  salvation  to  impenitent  un- 
believing sinners,  if  they  will  but  call  themselves 
Christians,  and  submit  to  a  few  external  rites  ?  How 
long  do  you  think  you  might  wait  for  such  a  change 
in  the  constitution  of  things  ?  You  know  death  will 
come  upon  you,  and  you  cannot  but  know,  in  your  own 
conscience,  that  a  general  dissolution  will  come  upon 
the  world  long  before  God  can  thus  deny  himself,  and 
contradict  all  his  perfections  and  all  his  declarations. 


WORK    DIFFICULT    BY    DELAY.  47 

6.  Or  if  his  demands  continue  the  same,  as  they 
assuredly  will,  do  you  think  any  thing  which  is 
now  disagreeable  to  you  in  them,  will  be  less  disa- 
greeable hereafter  than  it  is  at  present?    Shall  you 
love  to  sin  less,  when  it  is  become  more  habitual  to 
you,  and  when  your  conscience  is  yet  more  enfeebled 
and  debauched?  If  you  are  running  with  the  foot- 
men and  fainting,  shall  you  be  able  "  to  contend  with 
the  horseman  V  Jer.  12:  5.  Surely  you  cannot  ima- 
gine it.   You  would  not  say,  in  any  distemper  which 
threatened  your  life,  «  I  will  stay  till  I  grow  a  little 
worse,  and  then  I  will  apply  to  a  physician :  I  will 
let  my  disease  get  a  little  more  rooting  in  my  vitals, 
and  then  I  will  try  what  can  be  done  to  remove  it.1' 
No,  it  is  only  where  the  life  of  the  soul  is  concerned 
that  men  think  thus  wildly :  the  life  and  health  of 
the  body  appear  too  precious  to  be  thus  trifled  away. 
7.  If,  after  such  desperate  experiments,  you  are 
ever  recovered,  it  must  be  by  an  operation  of  Divine 
grace  on  your  soul,  yet  more  powerful  and  more 
wonderfuFin  proportion  to  the  increasing  inveteracy 
of  your  spiritual  maladies.  And  can  you  expect  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  should  be  more  ready  to  assist  you, 
m  consequence  of  your  having  so  shamefully  trifled 
with  him,  and  affronted  him  ?    He  is  now,  in  some 
measure,  moving  on  your  heart.   If  you  feel  any  se- 
cret relentings  in  it  upon  what  you  read,  it  is  a  sign 
hat  you  are  not  yet  utterly  forsaken.    But  who  can 
;ell  whether  these  are  not  the  last  touches  he  will 
• 


48  WORK    DIFFICULT    BY    DELAY. 

ever  give  to  a  heart  so  long  hardened  against  him  ? 
Who  can  tell,  but  God  may  this  day  "swear,  in  his 
wrath,  that  you  shall  not  enter  into  his  rest?"  Heb. 
3  :  18.  I  have  been  telling  you  that  you  may  imme- 
diately die.    You  own  it  is  possible  you  may.    And 
can  you  think  of  any  thing  more  terrible  ?  Yes,  sin- 
ner, I  will  tell  you  of  one  thing  more  dreadful  than 
immediate  death  and  immediate  damnation.     The 
blessed  God  may  say,  "As  for  that  wretched  crea- 
ture, who  has  so  long  trifled  with  me  and  provoked 
me,  'let  him  still  live ;  let  him  live  in  the  midst  of 
prosperity  and  plenty ;  let  him  live  under  the  purest 
and  the  most  powerful  ordinances  of  the  Gospel  too; 
that  he  may  abuse  them  to  aggravate  his  condemna- 
tion, and  die  under  sevenfold  guilt  and  a  sevenfold 
curse.     I  will  not  give  him  the  grace  to  think  of  his 
ways  for  one  serious  moment  more ;  but  he  shall  go 
on  from  bad  to  worse,  filling  up  the  measure  of  his 
iniquities,  till  death  and  destruction  seize  him  in  an 
unexpected  hour,  and  '  wrath  come  upon  him  to  the 
uttermost.'"   1  Thess.  2 :  16. 

8.  You  think  this  is  an  uncommon  case ;  but  I 
fear  it  is  much  otherwise.  I  fear  there  are  few  con- 
gregations where  the  word  of  God  has  been  faith- 
fully preached,  and  where  it  has  long  been  despised, 
especially  by  those  whom  it  had  once  awakened,  in 
which  the  eye  of  God  does  not  see  a  number  of  such 
wretched  souls ;  though  it  is  impossible  for  us,  in  this 
mortal  state,  to  pronounce  upon  the  case  who  they  are. 


WORK    DIFFICULT    BY    DELAY.  49 

9.  I  pretend  not  to  say  how  he  will  deal  with 
you,  O  reader !  whether  he  will  immediately  cut 
you  off,  or  seal  you  up  under  final  hardness  and 
impenitency  of  heart,  or  whether  his  grace  may 
at  length  awaken  you  to  consider  your  ways,  and 
return  to  him,  even  when  your  heart  is  grown 
yet  more  obdurate  than  it  is  at  present.  For  to  his 
Almighty  grace  nothing  is  hard,  not  even  to  trans- 
form a  rock  of  marble  into  a  man  or  a  saint.  But 
this  I  will  confidently  say,  that  if  you  delay  any 
longer,  the  time  will  come  when  you  will  bitterly 
repent  of  that  delay,  and  either  lament  it  before  God 
in  the  anguish  of  your  heart  here,  or  curse  your  own 
folly  and  madness  in  hell ;  yea,  when  you  will  wish, 
that,  dreadful  as  hell  is,  you  had  rather  fallen  into 
it  sooner,  than  have  lived  in  the  midst  of  so  many 
abused  mercies,  to  render  the  degree  of  your  punish- 
ment more  insupportable,  and  your  sense  of  it  more 
exquisitely  tormenting. 

10.  I  do  therefore  earnestly  exhort  you,  in  the 
name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  the  worth, 
and,  if  I  may  so  speak,  by  the  blood  of  your  immor- 
tal and  perishing  soul,  that  you  delay  not  a  day  or 
an  hour  longer.  Far  from  "giving  sleep  to  your 
eyes,  or  slumber  to  your  eyelids,"  (Prov.  6:4)  in 
the  continued  neglect  of  this  important  concern,  take 
with  you,  even  now,  "  words,  and  turn  unto  the 
Lord ;"  (Hos.  14  :  2.)  and  before  you  quit  the  place 
where  you  now  are,  fall  upon  your  knees  in  his  sa- 

5 


50        PRAYER  UNDER  CONVICTION. 

cred  presence,  and  pour  out  your  heart  in  such  lan- 
guage, or  at  least  to  some  such  purpose  as  this  : 

A  Prayer  for  one  who  is  tempted  to  delay  applying  to  Religion, 
though  under  some  conviction  of  its  importance. 

"  O  thou  righteous  and  holy  Sovereign  of  heaven 
and  earth  !  thou  God,  '  in  whose  hand  my  breath  is, 
and  whose  are  all  my  ways  !'  Dan.  5  :  23.  I  con- 
fess I  have  been  far  from  glorifying  thee,  or  con- 
ducting myself  according  to  the  intimations  or  the 
declarations  of  thy  will.  I  have  therefore  reason  to 
adore  thy  forbearance  and  goodness,  that  thou  hast 
not  long  since  stopped  my  breath,  and  cut  me  off 
from  the  land  of  the  living.  I  adore  thy  patience, 
that  I.  have  not,  months  and  years  ago,  been  an  in- 
habitant of  hell,  where  ten  thousand  delaying  sin- 
ners are  now  lamenting  their  folly,  and  will  be  la- 
menting it  for  ever.  But,  O  God,  how  possible  is 
it  that  this  trifling  heart  of  mine  may  at  length  be- 
tray me  into  the  same  ruin  !  and  then,  alas  !  into  a 
ruin  aggravated  by  all  this  patience  and  forbearance 
of  thine  !  I  am  convinced  that,  sooner  or  later,  reli- 
gion must  be  my  serious  care,  or  I  am  undone.  And 
yet  my  foolish  heart  draws  back  from  the  yoke ;  yet 
I  stretch  myself  upon  the  bed  of  sloth,  and  cry  out 
for  •'  a  little  more  sleep,  a  little  more  slumber,  a  little 
more  folding  of  the  hands  to  sleep.'  Pro  v.  6  :  10. 
Thus  does  my  corrupt  heart  plead  for  its  own  in- 
dulgence against  the  conviction  of  my  better  judg- 


PRAYER    UNDER    CONVICTION.  51 

ment.  What  shall  I  say  ?  O  Lord,  save  me  from 
myself !  Save  me  from  the  artifices  and  deceitfulness 
of  sin  !  Save  me  from  the  treachery  of  this  perverse 
and  degenerate  nature  of  mine,  and  fix  upon  my 
mind  what  I  have  now  been  reading ! 

"  O  Lord,  I  am  not  now  instructed  in  truths  which 
were  before  quite  unknown.  Often  have  I  been 
warned  of  the  uncertainty  of  life,  and  the  great  un- 
certainty of  the  day  of  salvation.  And  I  have  formed 
some  light  purposes,  and  have  begun  to  take  a  few 
irresolute  steps  in  my  way  toward  a  return  to  thee. 
But,  alas !  I  have  been  only,  as  it  were,  fluttering 
about  religion,  and  have  never  fixed  upon  it.  All  my 
resolutions  have  been  scattered  like  smoke,  or  dis- 
persed like  a  cloudy  vapor  before  the  wind.  O  that 
thou  wouldst  now  bring  these  things  home  to  my 
heart,  with  a  more  powerful  conviction  than  it  hath 
ever  yet  felt  ?  O  that  thou  wouldst  pursue  me  with 
them,  even  when  I  flee  from  them !  If  I  should  even 
grow  mad  enough  to  endeavor  to  escape  them  any 
more,  may  thy  Spirit  address  me  in  the  language  of 
effectual  terror,  and  add  all  the  most  powerful  me- 
thods which  thou  knovvest  to  be  necessary  to  awaken 
me  from  this  lethargy,  which  must  otherwise  be 
mortal !  May  the  sound  of  these  things  be  in  mine 
ears  « when  I  go  out,  and  when  I  come  in,  when  I 
lie  down,  and  when  I  rise  up !  '  Deut.  6 :  7.  And  if 
the  repose  of  the  night  and  the  business  of  the  day 
be  for  a  while  interrupted  by  the  impression,  be  it 


52        PRAYER  UNDER  CONVICTION. 

so,  O  God!  if  I  may  but  thereby  carry  on  my  busi- 
ness with  thee  to  better  purpose,  and  at  length  secure 
a  repose  in  thee,  instead  of  all  that  terror  which  I 
now  find  when  ■  I  think  upon  God,  and  am  troubled.' 
Psal.  77:3. 

"  O  Lord,  ' my  flesh  trembleth  for  fear  of  thee,  and 
I  am  afraid  of  thy  judgments.'   Psal.  119  :  120.  lam 
afraid  lest,  even  now  that  I  have  begun  to  think  of 
religion,  thou  shouldst  cut  me  off  in  this  critical  and 
important  moment,  before  my  thoughts  grow  to  any 
ripeness,  and  blast  in  eternal  death  the  first  buddings 
and  openings  of  it  in  my  mind.    But  O  spare  me,  I 
earnestly  entreat  thee  :  for  thy  mercies'  sake,  spare 
me  a  little  longer !    It  may  be,  through  thy  grace  I 
shall  return.    It  may  be,  if  thou  continuest  thy  pa- 
tience toward  me  a  while  longer,  there  may  be  ■  some 
better  fruit  produced  by  this  cumberer  of  the  ground. 
Luke   13-7  8.    And  may  the  remembrance  of  that 
W  forbearance  which  thou  hast  already  exercised 
toward  me,  prevent  my  continuing  to  trifle  with  thee, 
and  with  my  own  soul!  From  this  day    O  Lord, 
from  this  hour,  from  this  moment,  may  1  be  able  to 
date  more  lasting  impressions  of  religion  than  have 
ever  yet  been  made  upon  my  heart  by  all  that  I  have 
ever  read,  or  all  that  I  have  heard.    Amen. 


SINNER    CONVICTED.  53 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  SINNER  ARRAIGNED  AND    CONVICTED. 

1.  Conviction  of  guilt  necessary. — 2.  A  charge  of  rebellion 
against  God  advanced. — 3.  Where  it  is,  shown — that  all  men 
are  born  under  God's  law. — 4.  That  no  man  hath  perfectly 
kept  it  — 5.  An  appeal  to  the  reader's  conscience  on  this  head, 
that  he  hath  not. — 6.  That  to  have  broken  it,  is  an  evil  inex- 
pressibly great. — 7.  Illustrated  by  a  more  particular  view  of 
the  aggravations  of  this  guilt,  arising— from  knowledge.— 8. 
From  divine  favors  received. — 9.  From  convictions  of  con- 
science overborne. — 10.  From  the  strivings  of  God's  Spirit 
resisted. — 11.  From  vows  and  resolutions  broken. — 12.  The 
charges  summed  up,  and  left  upon  the  sinner's  conscience. — 
The  sinner's  confession  under  a  general  conviction  of  guilt. 

1.  As  I  am  attempting  to  lead  you  to  true  religion, 
and  not  merely  to  some  superficial  form  of  it,  I  am 
sensible  I  can  do  it  no  otherwise  than  in  the  way  of 
deep  humiliation.  And  therefore,  supposing  you  are 
persuaded,  through  the  divine  blessing  on  what  you 
have  before  read,  to  take  it  into  consideration,  I 
would  now  endeavour,  in  the  first  place,  with  all  the 
seriousness  I  can,  to  make  you  heartily  sensible  of 
your  guilt  before  God.  For  I  well  know,  that,  un- 
less you  are  convinced  of  this,  and  affected  with  the 
conviction,  all  the  provisions  of  Gospel  grace  will  be 
slighted,  and  your  soul  infallibly  destroyed,  in  the 
5* 


54  SINNER    CONVICTED. 

midst  of  the  noblest  means  appointed  for  its  recovery. 
I  am  fully  persuaded  that  thousands  live  and  die  in 
a  course  of  sin,  without  feeling  upon  their  hearts  any 
sense  that  they  are  sinners,  though  they  cannot,  for 
shame,  but  own  it  in  words.  And  therefore  let  me 
deal  faithfully  with  you,  though  I  may  seem  to  deal 
roughly;  for  complaisance  is  not  to  give  law  to  ad- 
dresses in  which  the  life  of  your  soul  is  concerned. 

2.  Permit  me  therefore,  O  sinner,  to  consider  my- 
self at  this  time  as  an  advocate  for  God,  as  one  em- 
ployed in  his  name  to  plead  against  thee,  and  to 
charge  thee  with  nothing  less  than  being  a  rebel  and 
a  traitor  against  the  Sovereign  Majesty  of  heaven 
and  earth.  However  thou  mayest  be  dignified  or 
distinguished  among  men  ;  if  the  noblest  blood  run 
in  thy  veins ;  if  thy  seat  were  among  princes,  and 
thine  arm  were  "  the  terror  of  the  mighty  in  the  land 
of  the  living,"  (Ezek.  32  :  27.)  it  would  be  necessa- 
ry thou  shouldst  be  told,  and  told  plainly,  thou  hast 
broken  the  laws  of  the  King  of  kings,  and  by  the 
breach  of  them  art  become  obnoxious  to  his  righteous 
condemnation. 

3.  Your  conscience  tells  you  that  you  were  born 
the  natural  subject  of  God,  born  under  the  indispen- 
sable obligations  of  his  law.  For  it  is  most  apparent 
that  the  constitution  of  your  rational  nature,  which 
makes  you  capable  of  receiving  law  from  God,  binds 
you  to  obey  it.  And  it  is  equally  evident  and  cer- 
tain that  you  have  not  exactly  obeyed  this  law,  nay, 


SINNER    CONVICTED.  55 

that  you  have  violated  it  in  many  aggravated  in- 
stances. 

4.  Will  you  dare  to  deny  this  ?  Will  you  dare  to 
assert  your  innocence?  Remember,  it  must  be  a  com- 
plete innocence;  yes,  and  a  perfect  righteousness 
too,  or  it  can  stand  you  in  no  stead,  farther  than  to 
prove,  that,  though  a  condemned  sinner,  you  are  not 
quite  so  criminal  as  some  others,  and  will  not  have 
quite  so  hot  a  place  in  hell  as  they.  And  when  this 
is  considered,  will  you  plead  not  guilty  to  the  charge? 
Search  the  records  of  your  own  conscience,  for  God 
searcheth  them  :  ask  it  seriously,  "  Have  you  never 
in  your  life  sinned  against  God?"  Solomon  declar- 
ed, that  in  his  days  "  there  was  not  a  just  man  upon 
earth,  who  did  good  and  sinned  not  ;"•  (Eccles.  7  : 
20;)  and  the  apostle  Paul,  "that  all  had  sinned 
and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God,"  (Rom.  3  :  23.) 
•'that  both  Jews  and  Gentiles  (which,  you  know, 
comprehend  the  whole  human  race)  were  all  under 
sin."  Rom.  3  :  9.  And  can  you  pretend  any  imagi- 
nable reason  to  believe  the  world  is  grown  so  much 
better  since  their  days,  that  any  should  now  plead 
their  own  case  as  an  exception  ?  Or  will  you,  how- 
ever, presume  to  arise  in  the  face  of  the  omniscient 
Majesty  of  heaven,  and  say  I  am  the  man  ? 

5.  Supposing,  as  before,  you  have  been  free  from 
those  gross  acts  of  immorality  which  are  so  perni- 
cious to  society  that  they  have  generally  been  pun- 
ishable by  human  laws ;  can  you  pretend  that  you 


56  SINNER    CONVICTED. 

have  not,  in  smaller  instances,  violated  the  rules  of 
piety,  of  temperance,  and  charity  1  Is  there  any  one 
person,  who  has  intimately  known  you,  that  would 
not  be  able  to  testify  you  had  said  or  done  something 
amiss  ?  Or  if  others  could  not  convict  you,  would 
not  your  own  heart  do  it  ?  Does  it  not  prove  you 
guilty  of  pride,  of  passion,  of  sensuality,  of  an  exces- 
sive fondness  of  the  world  and  its  enjoyments  ?  of 
murmuring,  or  at  least  of  secretly  repining  against 
God,  under  the  strokes  of  an  afflictive  providence ; 
of  misspending  a  great  deal  of  your  time  ;  abusing 
the  gifts  of  God's  bounty  to  vain,  if  not,  in  some  in- 
stances, to  pernicious  purposes;  of  mocking  him 
when  you  have  pretended  to  engage  in  his  worship, 
"  drawing  near  to  him  with  your  mouth  and  your 
lips,  while  your  heart  has  been  far  from  him?"  Isa. 
29  :  13.  Does  not  conscience  condemn  you  of  some 
one  breach  of  the  law  at  least  ?  And  by  one  breach 
of  it  you  are,  in  a  sense,  a  Scriptural  sense,  *  be- 
come guilty  of  all,"  (Jam.  2  :  19.)  and  are  as  inca- 
pable of  being  justified  before  God,  by  any  obedi- 
ence of  your  own,  as  if  you  had  committed  ten  thou- 
sand offences.  But,  in  reality,  there  are  ten  thousand 
and  more  chargeable  to  your  account.  When  you 
come  to  reflect  on  all  your  sins  of  negligence,  as  well 
as  on  those  of  commission  ;  on  all  the  instances  in 
which  you  have  "  failed  to  do  good  when  it  was  in 
the  power  of  your  hand  to  do  it ;"  (Prov.  3  :  27.)  on 
all  the  instances  in  which  acts  of  devotion  have  been 


EVIL    OF    OFFENDING    GOD.  57 

omitted,  especially  in  secret ;  and  on  all  those  cases 
in  which  you  have  shown  a  stupid  disregard  to  the 
honor  of  God,  and  to  the  temporal  and  eternal  hap- 
piness of  your  fellow-creatures :  when  all  these,  I 
say,  are  reviewed,  the  number  will  swell  beyond  all 
possibility  of  account,  and  force  you  to  cry  out, 
"  Mine  iniquities  are  more  than  the  hairs  of  my 
head."  Psal.  40 :  12.  They  will  appear  in  such  a 
light  before  you,  that  your  own  heart  will  charge 
you  with  countless  multitudes ;  and  how  much  more, 
"  then,  that  God,  who  is  greater  than  your  heart, 
and  knoweth  all  things  !"   1  John,  3  :  20. 

6.  And  say,  sinner,  is  it  a  little  thing  that  you 
have  presumed  to  set  light  by  the  authority  of  the 
God  of  heaven,  and  to  violate  his  law,  if  it  had  been 
by  mere  carelessness  and  inattention  1  How  much 
more  heinous,  therefore,  is  the  guilt,  when  in  so 
many  instances  you  have  done  it  knowingly  and 
willfully?  Give  me  leave  seriously  to  ask  you,  and 
let  me  entreat  you  to  ask  your  own  soul,  "  Against 
whom  hast  thou  magnified  thyself?  against  whom 
hast  thou  exalted  thy  voice,"  (2  Kings,  19 :  22.)  or 
"lifted  up  thy  rebellious  hand?"  On  whose  law,  O 
sinner,  hast  thou  presumed  to  trample  ?  and  whose 
friendship,  and  whose  enmity,  hast  thou  thereby 
dared  to  affront  ?  Is  it  a  man  like  thyself  that  thou 
hast  insulted  ?  Is  it  only  a  temporal  monarch — only 
one  "  who  can  kill  thy  body,  and  then  hath  no  more 
that  he  can  do?"  Luke,  12  :  4. 


58  EVIL    OF    OFFENDING    GOD. 

Nay,  einner,  thou  wouldst  not  have  dared  to  treat 
a  temporal  prince  as  thou  hast  treated  the  lt  King 
Eternal,  Immortal,"  and  "  Invisible."  1  Tim.  1:17. 
No  price  could  have  hired  thee  to  deal  by  the  ma- 
jesty of  an  earthly  sovereign,  as  thou  hast  dealt  by 
that  God  before  whom  the  cherubim  and  seraphim 
are  continually  bowing.  Not  one  opposing  or  com- 
plaining, disputing  or  murmuring  word  is  heard 
among  all  the  celestial  legions,  when  the  intimations 
of  his  will  are  published  to  them.  And  who  art 
thou,  O  wretched  man  !  who  art  thou,  that  thou 
shouldst  oppose  him?  That  thou  shouldst  oppose 
and  provoke  a  God  of  infinite  power  and  terror,  who 
needs  but  exert  one  single  act  of  his  sovereign  will, 
and  thou  art  in  a  moment  stripped  of  every  posses- 
sion ;  cut  off  from  every  hop?;  destroyed  and  rooted 
up  from  existence,  if  that  were  his  pleasure ;  or, 
what  is  inconceivably  worse,  consigned  over  to  the 
severest  and  most  lasting  agonies?  Yet  this  is  the 
God  whom  thou  hast  offended,  whom  thou  hast  af- 
fronted to  his  face,  presuming  to  violate  his  express 
laws  in  his  very  presence.  This  is  the  God  before 
whom  thou  standest  as  a  convicted  criminal ;  con- 
victed, not  of  one  or  two  particular  offences,  but  of 
thousands  and  ten  thousands  ;  of  a  course  and  series 
of  rebellion  and  provocations,  in  which  thou  hast 
persisted  more  or  less  ever  since  thou  wast  born, 
and  the  particulars  of  which  have  been  attended  with 
almost  every  conceivable  circumstance  of  aggrava- 


HEINOUSNESS    OF    SIN.  59 

tion.     Reflect  on  particulars,  and  deny  the  charge  if 
you  can. 

7.  If  knowledge  be  an  aggravation  of  guilt,  thy 
guilt,  O  sinner,  is  greatly  aggravated !  For  thou 
wast  born  in  Emmanuel's  land,  and  God  hath 
"  written  to  thee  the  great  things  of  his  law,"  yet 
"  thou  hast  accounted  them  as  a  strange  thing." 
Hos.  8  :  12.  Thou  hast  "known  to  do  good,  and 
hast  not  done  it;"  (James,  4  :  17.)  and  therefore  to 
thee  the  omission  of  it  has  been  sin  indeed.  "  Hast 
thou  not  known  ?  Hast  thou  not  heard  ?"  Isa.  40 :  28. 
Wast  thou  not  early  taught  the  will  of  God  1  Hast 
thou  not  since  received  repeated  lessons,  by  which  it 
has  been  inculcated  again  and  again,  in  public  and 
in  private,  by  preaching  and  reading  the  word  of 
God  ?  Nay,  hath  not  thy  duty  been  in  some  in- 
stances so  plain,  that,  even  without  any  instruction 
at  all,  thine  own  reason  might  easily  have  inferred 
it  1  And  hast  thou  not  also  been  warned  of  the  con- 
sequences of  disobedience  %  Hast  thou  not  "  known 
the  righteous  judgment  of  God,  that  they  who  com- 
mit such  things  are  worthy  of  death  ?"  Yet  thou 
hast,  perhaps,  "  not  only  done  the  same,  but  hast  had 
pleasure  in  those  that  do  them  ;"  (Rom.  1  :  32.)  hast 
chosen  them  for  thy  most  intimate  friends  and  com- 
panions ;  so  as  hereby  to  strengthen,  by  the  force  of 
example  and  converse,  the  hands  of  each  other  in 
your  iniquities. 

8.  Nay  more,  if  Divine  love  and  mercy  be  any 


60  HEINOUSNESS    OF    SIN. 

aggravation  of  the  sins  committed  against  it,  thy 
crimes,  O  sinner,  are  heinously  aggravated.  Must 
thou  not  acknowledge  it,  O  foolish  creature  and  un- 
wise ?  Hast  thou  not  been  "  nourished  and  brought 
up  by  him  as  his  child,  and  yet  hast  rebelled  against 
him  ?"  Isa.  1 :  2.  Did  not  God  "  take  you  out  of  the 
womb  ?"  Psal.  22  :  9.  Did  he  not  watch  over  you 
in  your  infant  days,  and  guard  you  from  a  multitude 
of  dangers  which  the  most  careful  parent  or  nurse 
could  not  have  observed  or  warded  off?  Has  he  not 
given  you  your  rational  powers  ?  and  is  it  not  by 
him  you  have  been  favored  with  every  opportunity 
of  improving  them  ?  Has  he  not  every  day  supplied 
your  wants  with  an  unwearied  liberality,  and  added, 
with  respect  to  many  who  will  read  this,  the  deli- 
cacies of  life  to  its  necessary  supports  ?  Has  he  not 
"  heard  you  cry  when  trouble  came  upon  you  ?" 
(Job,  27  :  9.)  and  frequently  appeared  for  your  de- 
liverance, when  in  the  distress  of  nature  you  have 
called  upon  him  for  help  ?  Has  he  not  rescued  you 
from  ruin,  when  it  seemed  just  ready  to  swallow  you 
up ;  and  healed  your  diseases,  when  it  seemed  to  all 
about  you,  that  the  "  residue  of  your  days  was  cut 
off  in  the  midst  ?"  Psal.  102  :  24.  Or,  if  it  has  not 
been  so,  is  not  this  long-continued  and  uninterrupted 
health,  which  you  have  enjoyed  for  so  many  years, 
to  be  acknowledged  as  an  equivalent  obligation  ? 
Look  around  upon  all  your  possessions,  and  say, 
what  one  thing  have  you  in  the  world  which  his 


HEINOUSNESS    OF    SIN.  61 

goodness  did  not  give  you,  and  which  he  hath  not 
thus  far  preserved  to  you  ?  Add  to  all  this,  the  kind 
notices  of  his  will  which  he  hath  sent  you  ;  the  ten- 
der expostulations  which  he  hath  used  with  you,  to 
bring  you  to  a  wiser  and  better  temper;  and  the  dis- 
coveries and  gracious  invitations  of  his  Gospel 
which  you  have  heard,  and  which  you  have  de- 
spised ;  and  then  say,  whether  your  rebellion  has 
not  been  aggravated  by  the  vilest  ingratitude,  and 
whether  that  aggravation  can  be  accounted  small  ? 

9.  Again,  if  it  be  any  aggravation  of  sin  to  be 
committed  against  conscience,  thy  crimes,  O  sinner  ! 
have  been  so  aggravated.  Consult  the  records  of  it, 
and  then  dispute  the  fact  if  you  can.  "  There  is  a 
spirit  in  man,  and  the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty 
giveth  him  understanding;"  (Job,  32:  8.)  and  that 
understanding  will  act,  and  a  secret  conviction  of 
being  accountable  to  its  Maker  and  Preserver  is  in- 
separable from  the  actings  of  it.  It  is  easy  to  object 
to  human  remonstrances,  and  to  give  things  false 
colorings  before  men  ;  but  the  heart  often  condemns, 
while  the  tongue  excuses.  Have  you  not  often  found 
it  so  1  Has  not  conscience  remonstrated  against  your 
past  conduct,  and  have  not  these  remonstrances  been 
very  painful  too  ?  I  have  been  assured,  by  a  gentle- 
man of  undoubted  credit,  that,  when  he  was  in  the 
pursuit  of  all  the  gayest  sensualities  of  life,  and  was 
reckoned  one  of  the  happiest  of  mankind,  he  has 
seen  a  dog  come  into  the  room  where  he  was  among 
6 


62  CONSCIENCE    STIFLED. 

his  merry  companions,  and  has  groaned  inwardly 
and  said,  "  O  !  that  I  had  been  that  dog  !"  And  hast 
thou,  O  sinner,  felt  nothing  like  this  ?  Has  thy  con- 
science been  so  stupefied,  so  "  seared  with  a  hot 
iron,"  (1  Tim.  4  :  2.)  that  it  has  never  cried  out  for 
any  of  the  violences  which  have  been  done  it?  Has 
it  never  warned  thee  of  the  fatal  consequences  of 
what  thou  hast  done  in  opposition  to  it?  These  J 
warnings  are,  in  effect,  the  voice  of  God ;  they  are 
the  admonitions  which  he  gave  thee  by  his  vice-  | 
gerent  in  thy  breast.  And  when  his  sentence  for  thy 
evil  works  is  executed  upon  thee  in  everlasting 
death,  thou  shalt  hear  that  voice  speaking  to  thee 
again  in  a  louder  tone  and  a  severer  accent  than 
before  ;  and  thou  shalt  be  tormented  with  its  upbraid-  . 
ings  through  eternity,  because  thou  w-ouldst  not,  in 
time,  hearken  to  its  admonitions. 

10.  Let  me  add  farther,  if  it  be  any  aggravation 
that  sin  has  been  committed  after  God  has  been 
moving  by  his  Spirit  on  the  mind,  surely  your  sin  i 
has  been  attended  with  that  aggravation  too.  Under 
the  Mosaic  dispensation,  dark  and  imperfect  as  it  was, 
the  Spirit  strove  with  the  Jews ;  else  Stephen  cc«uld 
not  have  charged  it  upon  them,  that  through  all  their 
generations  "they  had  always  resisted  him."  Acts, 
7:51.  Now,  surely,  we  may  much  more  reasona- 
bly apprehend  that  he  strives  with  sinners  under  the 
Gospel.  And  have  you  never  experienced  any  thing 
of  this  kind,  even  when  there  has  been  no  external  i 


HOLY    SPIRIT    RESISTED.  63 

circumstance  to  awaken  you,  nor  any  pious  teacher 
near  you  ?  Have  you  never  perceived  some  secret 
impulse  upon  your  mind,  leading  you  to  think  of  re- 
ligion, urging  you  to  an  immediate  consideration  of 
it,  sweetly  inviting  you  to  make  trial  of  it,  and  warn- 
ing you,  that  you  would  lament  this  stupid  neglect  ? 
O  sinner,  why  were  not  these  happy  motions  attend- 
ed to  ?  Why  did  you  not,  as  it  were,  spread  out  all 
the  sails  of  your  soul  to  catch  that  heavenly,  that 
favorable  breeze  ?  But  you  have  carelessly  neglected 
it:  you  have  overborne  these  kind  influences.  How 
reasonably  then  might  the  sentence  have  gone  forth 
in  righteous  displeasure,  "  My  Spirit  shall  no  more 
strive."  Gen.  6 :  3.  And  indeed  who  can  say  that 
it  is  not  already  gone  forth  ?  If  you  feel  no  secret 
agitation  of  mind,  no  remorse,  no  awakening  while 
you  read  such  a  remonstrance  as  this,  there  will  be 
room,  great  room  to  suspect  it. 

11.  There  is  indeed  one  aggravation  more,  which 
may  not  attend  your  guilt — I  mean  that  of  being 
committed  against  solemn  covenant  engagements  :  a 
circumstance  which  has  lain  heavy  on  the  conscien- 
ces of  many,  who  perhaps  in  the  main  series  of  their 
lives  have  served  God  with  great  integrity.  But  let 
me  call  you  to  think  to  what  this  is  owing.  Is  it 
not  that  you  have  never  personally  made  any  solemn 
profession  of  devoting  yourself  to  God  at  all — have 
never  done  any  thing  which  has  appeared  to  your 
own  apprehension  an  act  by  which  you  have  made 


64  HOLY    SPIRIT    RESISTED 

a  covenant  with  him,  though  you  have  heard  so  much 
of  his  covenant,  though  you  have  been  so  solemnly 
and  so  tenderly  invited  to  it?  And  in  this  view,  how 
monstrous  must  this  circumstance  appear,  which  at 
first  was  mentioned  as  some  alleviation  of  guilt ! 
Yet  I  must  add  that  you  are  not,  perhaps,  altogether 
so  free  from  guilt  on  this  head  as  you  may  at  first 
imagine.  Has  your  heart  been,  even  from  your 
youth,  hardened  to  so  uncommon  a  degree  that  you 
have  never  cried  to  God  in  any  season  of  danger  and 
difficulty?  And  did  you  never  mingle  vows  with 
those  cries  ?  Did  you  never  promise,  that,  if  God 
would  hear  and  help  you  in  that  hour  of  extremity 
you  would  forsake  your  sins,  and  serve  him  as  long 
as  you  lived  ?  He  heard  and  helped  you,  or  you  had 
not  been  reading  these  lines ;  and,  by  such  deMrer- 
ance,  did  as  it  were  bind  down  your  vows  upon  you ; 
and  therefore  your  guilt,  in  the  violation  of  them, 
remains  before  him,  though  you  are  stupid  enough 
to  forget  them.  Nsthing  is  forgotten,  nothing  is 
overlooked  by  him ;  and  the  day  will  come,  when 
the  record  shall  be  laid  before  you  too. 

12.  And  now,  O  sinner,  think  seriously  with  thy- 
self what  defence  thou  wilt  make  to  all  this.  P  e- 
pare  thine  apology ;  call  thy  witnesses ;  make  thine 
appeal  from  him  whom  thou  hast  thus  offended,  to 
some  superior  judge,  if  such  there  be.  Alas  !  those 
apologies  are  so  weak  and  vain,  that  one  of  thy  fel- 
low-worms may  easily  detect  and  confound  them ; 


CONVINCED    SINNER'S    CONFESSION.  65 

as  I  will  endeavor  presently  to  show  thee.  But  thy 
foreboding  conscience  already  knows  the  issue. 
Thou  art  convicted,  convicted  of  the  most  aggrava- 
ted offences.  Thou  "  hast  not  humbled  thine  heart, 
but  lifted  up  thyself  against  the  Lord  of  heaven," 
(Dan.  5  :  22,  23.)  and  "  thy  sentence  shall  come  forth 
from  his  presence."  Psalm  17:2.  Thou  hast  vio- 
lated his  known  laws ;  thou  hast  despised  and  abused 
his  numberless  mercies ;  thou  hast  affronted  con- 
science, his  vicegerent  in  thy  soul ;  thou  hast  re- 
sisted and  grieved  his  Spirit ;  thou  hast  trifled  with 
him  in  all  thy  pretended  submissions ;  and,  in  one 
word,  and  that  his  own,  "  thou  hast  done  evil  things 
as  thou  couldst."  Jer.  3  :  5.  Thousands  are  no  doubt 
already  in  hell  whose  guilt  never  equalled  thine ; 
and  it  is  astonishing  that  God  hath  spared  thee  to 
read  this  representation  of  thy  case,  or  to  make  any 
pause  upon  it.  O  waste  not  so  precious  a  moment, 
but  enter  attentively,  and  as  humbly  as  thou  canst, 
into  those  reflections  which  suit  a  case  so  lamentable 
and  so  terrible  as  thine. 

Tlue  Confession  of  a  Simmer  convinced,  in  general  of  hit 
Guilt. 
\ 

"  O  God  !  thou  injured  Sovereign,  thou  all-pene- 
trating and  Almighty  Judge !  what  shall  I  say  to 
this  charge  ?   Shall  I  pretend  I  am  wronged  by  it, 
and  stand  on  the  defence  in  thy  presence  ?  I  dare  not 
6* 


66 

do  it ;  for  •  thou  knowest  my  foolishness,  and  none 
of  my  sins  are  hid  from  thee.'  Psalm  69 :  5.  My 
conscience  tells  me  that  a  denial  of  my  crimes 
would  only  increase  them,  and  add  new  fuel  to  the 
fire  of  thy  deserved  wrath.  ■  If  I  justify  myself,  mine 
own  mouth  will  condemn  me ;  if  I  say  I  am  perfect, 
it  will  also  prove  me  perverse;'  (Job,  9:  20.)  'for 
innumerable  evils  have  compassed  me  about :  mine 
iniquities  have  taken  hold  upon  me,  so  that  I  am  not 
able  to  look  up:  they  are,'  as  I  have  been  told  in  thy 
name,  '  more  than  the  hairs  of  my  head  ;  therefore 
my  heart  faileth  me.'  Psalm  40 :  12.  I  am  more- 
guilty  than  it  is  possible  for  another  to  declare  or  re- 
present. My  heart  speaks  more  than  any  other  ac- 
cuser. And  thou,  O  Lord,  art  much  greater  than  my 
heart,  and  knowest  all  things.    1  John,  3  :  20. 

"  What  has  my  life  been  but  a  course  of  rebellion- 
against  thee  ?  It  is  not  this  or  that  particular  action 
alone  I  have  to  lament.  Nothing  has  been  right  ir* 
its  principles,  and  views,  and  ends.  My  whole  soul 
has  been  disordered.  All  my  thoughts,  my  affections,, 
my  desires,  my  pursuits,  have  been  wretchedly  alie- 
nated from  thee.  I  have  acted  as  if  I  had  hated  theer 
who  art  infinitely  the  loveliest  of  all  beings  ;  as  if  I 
had  been  contriving  how  I  might  tempt  thee  to  the 
uttermost,  and  weary  out  thy  patience,  marvelous 
as  it  is.  My  actions  have  been  evil,  my  words  yet 
more  evil  than  they  !  and,  O  blessed  God,  my  heart, 
how  much  more  corrupt  than  either !  What  an  in- 


67 

exhausted  fountain  of  sin  has  there  been  in  it !  A 
fountain  of  original  corruption,  which  mingled  its 
bitter  streams  with  the  days  of  early  childhood;  and 
which,  alas  !  flows  on  even  to  this  day,  beyond  what 
actions  or  words  could  express.  I  see  this  to  have 
been  the  case  with  regard  to  what  I  can  particularly 
survey.  But,  oh  !  how  many  months  and  years  have 
I  forgotten,  concerning  which  I  only  know  this  in 
the  general,  that  they  are  much  like  those  I  can 
remember ;  except  it  be,  that  I  have  been  growing 
worse  and  worse,  and  provoking  thy  patience  more 
and  more,  though  every  new  exercise  of  it  was  more 
and  more  wonderful. 

"  And  how  am  I  astonished  that  thy  forbearance 
is  still  continued  !  It  is  because  thou  art  ■  God,  and 
not  man.'  Hos.  11:9.  Had  I,  a  sinful  worm,  been 
thus  injured,  I  could  not  have  endured  it.  Had  I 
been  a  prince,  I  had  long  since  done  justice  on  any 
rebel  whose  crimes  had  borne  but  a  distant  resem- 
blance to  mine.  Had  I  been  a  parent,  I  had  long  since 
cast  off  the  ungrateful  child  who  had  made  me  such 
a  return  as  I  have  all  my  life  long  been  making  to 
thee,  O  thou  Father  of  my  spirit !  The  flame  of  na- 
tural affection  would  have  been  extinguished,  and  his 
sight  and  his  very  name  would  have  become  hate- 
ful to  me.  Why  then,  O  Lord,  am  I  not  'cast  out 
from  thy  presence  ?  Jer.  52  :  3.  Why  am  I  not  seal- 
ed up  under  an  irreversible  sentence  of  destruction  ? 
That  I  live,  I  owe  to  thine  indulgence.    But,  oh ! 


68 

if  there  be  yet  any  way  of  deliverence,  if  there  be 
yet  any  hope  for  so  guilty  a  creature,  may  it  be 
opened  upon  me  by  thy  Gospel  and  thy  grace! 
And  if  any  farther  alarm,  humiliation,  or  terror  be 
necessary  to  my  security  and  salvation,  may  I  meet 
them  and  bear  them  all !  Wound  my  heart,  O  Lord, 
so  that  thou  wilt  but  afterwards  '  heal  it;'  and  break 
it  in  pieces,  if  thou  wilt  but  at  length  condescend  to 
bind  it  up."   Hos.  6 :  1. 


SINNER    STRIPPED'OF    EXCUSES.  69 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE   SINNER  STRIPPED    OF   HIS   VAIN  PLEAS. 

1.  2.  The  vanity  of  those  pleas  which  sinners  may  secretly  con- 
fide in,  is  so  apparent  that  they  will  be  ashamed  at  last  to 
mention  them  before  God. — 3.  Such  as,  that  they  descended 
from  pious  parents. — 4.  That  they  had  attended  to  the  specu- 
lative part  of  religion. — 5.  That  they  had  entertained  sound 
notions. — 6.  7.  That  they  had  expressed  a  zealous  regard  to 
religion,  and  attended  the  outward  forms  of  worship  viith 
those  they  apprehended  the  purest  churches. — 8.  That  they 
had  been  free  from  gross  immoralities. — 9.  That  they  did  not 
think  the  consequences  of  neglecting  religion  would  have  been 
so  fatal. — 10.  That  they  could  not  do  otherwise  than  they  did. 
— 11.  Conclusion.  With  the  meditation  of  a  convinced  sin- 
ner giving  up  his  vain  pleas  before  God. 

1.  My  last  discourse  left  the  sinner  in  very  alarm- 
ing and  very  pitiable  circumstances  :  a  criminal  con- 
victed at  the  bar  of  God,  disarmed  of  all  pretences  to 
perfect  innocence  and  sinless  obedience,  and  conse- 
quently obnoxious  to  the  sentence  of  a  holy  law, 
which  can  make  no  allowance  for  any  transgression, 
no  not  for  the  least;  but  pronounces  death  and  a 
curse  against  every  act  of  disobedience :  how  much 
more  then  against  those  numberless  and  aggravated 
acts  of  rebellion,  of  which,  O  sinner  !  thy  conscience 


70  SINNER    STRIPPED    OF    EXCUSES. 

hath  condemned  thee  before  God?  I  would  hope 
some  of  my  readers  will  ingenuously  fall  under  the 
conviction,  and  not  think  of  making  any  apology ; 
for  sure  I  am,  that,  humbly  to  plead  guilty  at  the 
divine  bar,  is  the  most  decent,  and,  all  things  con- 
sidered, the  most  prudent  thing  that  can  be  done  in 
such  an  unhappy  state.  Yet  I  know  the  treachery 
and  the  self-flattery  of  a  sinful  and  corrupted  heart 
I  know  what  excuses  it  makes,  and  how,  when  it  is 
driven  from  one  refuge,  it  flies  to  another,  to  fortify 
itself  against  conviction,  and  to  persuade,  not  merely 
another,  but  itself,  "  That  if  it  has  been  in  some  in- 
stances to  blame,  it  is  not  quite  so  criminal  as  was 
represented  ;  that  there  are  at  least  considerations 
that  plead  in  its  favor,  which,  if  they  cannot  justify, 
will  in  some  degree  excuse."  A  secret  reserve  of  this 
kind,  sometimes  perhaps  scarcely  formed  into  a  dis- 
tinct reflection,  breaks  the  force  of  conviction,  and 
often  prevents  that  deep  humiliation  before  God 
which  is  the  happiest  token  of  approaching  deliver- 
ance. I  will  therefore  examine  into  some  of  these 
particulars  ;  and  for  that  purpose  would  seriously 
ask  thee,  O  sinner  !  what  thou  hast  to  offer  in  arrest 
of  judgment?  What  plea  thou  canst  urge  for  thy- 
self, why  the  sentence  of  God  should  not  go  forth 
against  thee,  and  why  thou  shouldst  not  fall  into  the 
hands  of  his  justice? 

2.  But  this  I  must  premise,  that  the  question  is 
not,  How  wouldst  thou  answer  to  me,  a  weak  sinfu) 


SINNER    STRIPPED    OF    EXCUSES.  71 

worm  like  thyself,  who  am  shortly  to  stand  with  thee 
at  the  same  bar  ?  and  "  the  Lord  grant  that  I  may 
find  mercy  of  the  Lord  in  that  day ;"  (2  Tim.  1  :  18;) 
but,  what  wilt  thou  reply  to  thy  Judge  ?  What  couldst 
thou  plead,  if  thou  wast  now  actually  before  his  tri- 
bunal, wThere,  to  multiply  vain  words,  and  to  frame 
idle  apologies,  would  be  but  to  increase  thy  guilt  and 
provocation  ?  Surely  the  very  thought  of  his  pre- 
sence must  supersede  a  thousand  of  those  trifling  ex- 
cuses which  now  sometimes  impose  on  "  a  genera- 
tion that  are  pure  in  their  own  eyes,"  though  they 
"  are  not  washed  from  their  filthiness  !"  (Prov.  30  : 
12,)  or  while  they  are  conscious  of  their  impurities, 
"  trust  in  words  that  cannot  profit,"  (Jer.  7  :  8,)  and 
"  lean  upon  broken  reeds."   Isa.  36  :  6. 

3.  You  will  not,  to  be  sure,  in  such  a  condition, 
plead  "  that  you  are  descended  from  pious  parents." 
That  was  indeed  your  privilege;  and  wo  be  to  you 
that  you  have  abused  it,  and  "  forsaken  ^he  God  of 
your  fathers."  2  Chron.  7  :  22.  Ishmael  was  imme- 
diately descended  from  Abraham,  the  friend  of  God, 
and  Esau  was  the  son  of  Isaac,  who  was  born  ac- 
cording to  the  promise;  yet  you  know  they  were 
both  cut  off  from  the  blessing  to  which  they  appre- 
hended they  had  a  kind  of  hereditary  claim.  You 
may  remember  that  our  Lord  does  not  only  speak 
of  one  who  would  call  "Abraham  father,"  who  was 
"  tormented  in  flames,"  (Luke,  16  :  24,)  but  express- 
ly declares  that  many  of  the  children  of  the  king*- 


72  SINNER    STRIPPED    OF    EXCUSES. 

dom  shall  be  shut  out  of  it ;  and  when  others  come 
from  the  most  distant  parts  to  sit  down  in  it,  shall 
be  distinguished  from  their  companions  in  misery 
only  by  louder  accents  of  lamentation,  and  more 
furious  "gnashing  of  teeth."  Matt.  8:11,  12. 

4.   Nor  will  you  then  presume  to  plead  "  that  you 
had  exercised  your  thoughts  about  the  speculative 
parts  of  religion."     For  to  what  end  can  this  serve, 
but  to  increase  your  condemnation?  Since  you  have 
broken  God's  law,  since  you  have  contradicted  the 
most  obvious  and  apparent  obligations  of  religion,  to 
have  inquired  into  it,  and  argued  upon  it,  is  a  cir- 
cumstance that  proves  your  guilt  more  audacious. 
What !  did  you  think  religion  was  merely  an  exer- 
cise of  men's  wit,  and  the  amusement  of  their  curio- 
sity?   If  you  argued  about  it  on  the  principles  of 
common  sense,  you  must  have  judged  and  proved  it 
to  be  a  practical" thing  ;  and  if  it  was  so,  why  did  you 
not  practice-  accordingly  ?   You  knew  the  particular 
branches  of  it;  and  why  then  did  you  not  attend  to 
every  one  of  them  %  To  have  pleaded  an  unavoidable 
ignorance  would  have  been  tne  happiest  plea  that 
could  have  remained  for  you  ;  nay,  an  actual,  though 
faulty  ignorance,  would  have  been  some  little  allay 
of  your°guilt.     But  if,  by  your  own  confession,  you 
have  "known  your  Master's  will,  and  have  not  done 
it,"  you  bear  witness  against  yourself,  that  you  de- 
serve to  be  "beaten  with  many  stripes."     Luke, 
12  :  47. 


SINNER    STRIPPED    OF    EXCUSES.  73 

5.  Nor  yet,  again,  will  it  suffice  to  say  "  that  you 
have  had  right  notions  both  of  the  doctrines  and  the 
precepts  of  religion."  Your  advantage  for  practicing 

:  it  was  therefore  the  greater ;  but  understanding  and 
acting  right  can  never  go  for  the  same  thing  in  the 
judgment  of  God  or  of  man.    In  "  believing  there  is 

j  one  God,"  you  have  done  well ;  but  the  "  devils  also 
believe  and  tremble."  James,  2  :  19.  In  acknow- 
ledging Christ  to  be  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Holy 

!■  One,  you  have  done  well  too ;  but  you  know  the  un- 
clean spirits  made  this  very  orthodox  confession  ; 
(Luke,  4  r  34,  41.)  and  yet  they  are  ''reserved  in 
everlasting  chains,  under  darkness,  unto  the  judg- 

!  ment  of  the  great  day."  Jude,  ver.  6.  And  will  you 
place  any  secret  confidence  in  that  which  might  be 
pleaded  by  the  infernal  spirits  as  well  as  by  you  ? 

6.  But  perhaps  you  may  think  of  pleading  that 
•  "you  have  actually  done  something  in  religion." 

Having  judged  what  faith  was  the  soundest,  and 
what  worship  the  purest,  "  you  entered  yourself  into 
those  societies  where  such  articles  of  faith  were 
professed,  and  such  forms  of  worship  were  practiced ; 
and  among  these  you  have  signalized  yourself  by  the 
exactness  of  your  attendance,  by  the  zeal  with  which 
you  have  espoused  their  cause,  and  by  the  earnestness 
with  which  you  have  contended  for  such  principles 
;  and  practices."  O  sinner !  I  much  fear  that  this  zeal  of 
thine  about  the  circumstantials  of  religion  will  swell 
thine  account,  rather  than  be  allowed  in  abatement 
7 


74  SINNER    STRIPPED    OF    EXCUSES. 

of  it.  He  that  searches  thine  heart  knows  from 
whence  it  arose,  and  how  far  it  extended.  Perhaps 
he  sees  that  it  was  all  hypocrisy,  an  artful  veil  under 
which  thou  wast  carrying  on  thy  mean  designs  for 
tliis  world,  while  the  sacred  name  of  God  and  reli- 
gion were  profaned  and  prostituted  in  the  basest 
manner :  and  if  so,  thou  art  cursed  with  a  distinguish- 
ed curse  for  so  daring  an  insult  on  the  Divine  om- 
niscience as  well  as  justice.  Or  perhaps  the  earnest- 
ness with  which  you  have  been  "  contending  for  the 
faith  and  worship  which  was  once  delivered  to  the 
saints,"  (Jude,  ver.  3,)  or  which,  it  is  possible,  you 
may  have  rashly  concluded  to  be  that,  might  be 
mere  pride  and  bitterness  of  spirit ;  and  all  the  zeal 
you  have  expressed  might  possibly  arise  from  a  con- 
fidence of  your  own  judgment,  from  an  impatience 
of  contradiction,  or  some  secret  malignity  of  spirit, 
which  delighteth  itself  in  condemning,  and  even  in 
worrying  others ;  yea,  which,  if  I  may  be  allowed 
the  expression,  fiercely  preys  upon  religion,  as  the 
tiger  upon  the  lamb,  to  turn  it  into  a  nature  most 
contrary  to  its  own.  And  shall  th  a  screen  you  before 
the  great  tribunal?  Shall  it  not  rather  awaken  the 
displeasure  it  is  pleaded  to  avert  ? 

7.  But  say  that  this  zeal  for  nc  tions  and  forms  has 
been  ever  so  well  intended,  and,  so  far  as  it  has  gone, 
ever  so  well  conducted  too ;  wh  it  will  that  avail  to- 
ward vindicating  thee  in  so  mahy  instances  of  negli- 
gence and  disobedience  as  are  recorded  against  thee 


SINNER    STRIPPED    OF    EXCUSES.  /5 

in  the  book  of  God's  remembrance  ?  Were  the  re- 
vealed doctrines  of  the  Gospel  to  be  earnestly  main- 
tained, (as  indeed  they  ought,)  and  was  the  great 
practical  purpose  for  which  they  were  revealed  to  be 
forgot  ?  Was  the  very  mint,  and  anise,  and  cummin 
to  be  tithed ;  and  were  "  the  weightier  matters  of  the 
law  to  be  omitted,"  (Matt.  23 :  23.)  even  that  love 
to  God  which  is  its  "  first  and  great  command  ?" 
Matt.  22:  38.  O!  how  wilt  thou  be  able  to  vindi- 
cate even  the  justest  sentence  thou  hast  passed  on 
others  for  their  infidelity,  or  for  their  disobedience, 
without  being  "condemned out  of  thine  own  mouth?" 
Luke,  19  :  22. 

8.  Will  you  then  plead  "  your  fair  moral  charac- 
ter, your  works  of  righteousness  and  of  mercy?" 
Had  your  obedience  to  the  law  of  God  been  com- 
plete, the  plea  might  be  allowed  as  important  and 
valid.  But  I  have  supposed,  and  proved  above, 
that  conscience  testifies  to  the  contrary;  and  you 
will  not  now  dare  to  contradict  it.  I  add  farther,  had 
these  works  of  yours,  which  you  now  urge,  pro- 
ceeded from  a  sincere  love  to  God,  and  a  genuine 
faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  you  would  not  have 
thought  of  pleading  them  any  otherwise  than  as  an 
evidence  of  your  interest  in  the  Gospel-covenant,  and 
in  the  blessings  of  it,  procured  by  the  righteousness 
and  blood  of  the  Redeemer ;  and  that  faith,  had  it 
been  sincere,  would  have  been  attended  with  such 
deep  humility,  and  with  such  solemn  apprehensions 


76  SINNER    STRIPPED    OF    EXCUSES. 

of  the  Divine  holiness  and  glory,  that,  instead  of 
pleading  any  works  of  your  own  before  God,  you 
would  rather  have  implored  his  parcfori  for  the  mix- 
ture of  sinful  imperfection  attending  the  very  best  of 
them.  Now,  as  you  are  a  stranger  to  this  humbling 
and  sanctifying  principle,  (which  here  in  this  ad- 
dress I  suppose  my  reader  to  be,)  it  is  absolutely  ne- 
cessary you  should  be  plainly  and  faithfully  told, 
that  neither  sobriety,  nor  honesty,  nor  humanity  will 
justify  you  before  the  tribunal  of  God,  when  he  "lays 
judgment  to  the  line,  and  righteousness  to  the  plum- 
met," (Isai.  28  :  17.)  and  examines  all  your  actions 
and  all  your  thoughts  with  the  strictest  severity. 
You  have  not  been  a  drunkard,  an  adulterer,  or  a 
robber.  So  far  it  is  well.  You  stand  before  a  righte- 
ous God,  who  will  do  you  ample  justice,  and  there- 
fore will  not  condemn  you  for  drunkenness,  adultery, 
or  robbery  ;  but  you  have  forgotten  him,  your  Parent 
and  your  Benefactor ;  you  have  "  cast  off  fear,  and 
restrained  prayer  before  him;"  (Job,  15:  4.)  you 
have  despised  the  blood  of  his  Son,  and  all  the  im- 
mortal blessings  that  he  purchased  with  it.  For  this, 
therefore,  you  are  judged,  and  condemned.  And  as 
for  any  thing  that  has  looked  like  virtue  and  hu- 
manity in  your  temper  and  conduct,  the  exercise  of 
it  has  in  great  measure  been  its  own  reward,  if  there 
were  any  thing  more  than  form  and  artifice  in  it  ; 
and  the  various  bounties  of  Divine  Providence  to 
you,  amidst  all  your  numberless  provocations,  have 


SINNER    STRIPPED    OF    EXCUSES.  77 

been  a  thousand  times  more  than  an  equivalent  for 
such  defective  and  imperfect  virtues  as  these.  You 
remain  therefore  chargeable  with  the  guilt  of  a  thou- 
sand offences,  for  which  you  have  no  excuse,  though 
there  are  some  other  instances  in  which  you  did  not 
grossly  offend.  And  those  good  works  in  which  you 
have  been  so  ready  to  trust,  will  no  more  vindicate 
you  in  his  awful  presence,  than  a  man's  kindness  to 
his  poor  neighbors  would  be  allowed  as  a  plea  in 
arrest  of  judgment,  when  he  stood  convicted  of  high 
treason  against  his  prince. 

9.  But  you  will,  perhaps,  be  ready  to  say,  "  you 
did  not  expect  all  this :  you  did  not  think  the  conse- 
quences of  neglecting  religion  would  have  been  so 
fatal."  And  why  did  you  not  think  it  ?  Why  did 
you  not  examine  more  attentively  and  more  impar- 
tially? Why  did  you  suffer  the  pride  and  folly  of 
your  vain  heart  to  take  up  with  such  superficial  ap- 
pearances, and  trust  the  light  suggestions  of  your 
own  prejudiced  mind  against  the  express  declaration 
of  the  word  of  God?  Had  you  reflected  on  his  cha- 
racter as  the  supreme  Governor  of  the  world,  you 
would  have  seen  the  necessity  of  such  a  day  of  retri- 
bution as  we  are  now  referring  to.  Had  you  regard- 
ed the  Scripture,  the  divine  authority  of  which  you 
professed  to  believe,  every  page  might  have  taught 
you  to  expect  it.  "  You  did  not  think  of  religion  !" 
and  of  what  were  you  thinking  when  you  forgot  or 
neglected  it  ?  Had  you  so  much  employment  of  an- 


78  SINNER    STRIPPED    OF    EXCUSES 

other  kind?    Of  what  kind,  I  beseech  you  ?    What 
end  could  you  propose,  by  any  thing  else,  of  equal 
moment?    Nay,  with  all  your   engagements,   con- 
science will  tell  you  that  there  have  been  seasons 
when,  for  want  of  thought,  time  and  life  have  been 
a  burden  to  you  ;  yet  you  guarded  against  thought 
as  against  an  enemy,  and  cast  up,  as  it  were,  an  en- 
trenchment of  inconsideration  around  you  on  every 
side,  as  if  it  had  been  to  defend  you  from  the  most 
dangerous  invasion.     God  knew  you  were  thought- 
less? and  therefore  he  sent  you  "  line  upon  line,  and 
precept  upon  precept,"  (Isai.  28  :  10.)  in  such  plain 
language  that  it  needed  no  genius  or  study  to  un- 
derstand it.  He  tried  you  too  with  afflictions  as  well 
as  with  mercies,  to  awaken  you  out  of  your  fatal 
lethargy;  and  yet,  when  awakened,  you  would  lie 
down  again  upon  the  bed  of  sloth.    And  now,  pleas- 
ing as  your  dreams  might  be,  "  you  must  lie  down 
in  sorrow."  Isai.  50 :  1 1.  Reflection  has  at  last  over- 
taken you,  and  must  be  heard  as  a  tormentor,  since 
it  might  not  be  heard  as  a  friend. 

10.  But  some  may  perhaps  imagine  that  one  im- 
portant apology  is  yet  unheard,  and  that  there  may 
be  room  to  say,  "  you  were,  by  the  necessity  of  your 
nature,  impelled  to  those  things  which  are  now 
charged  upon  you  as  crimes  ;  and  that  it  was  not  in 
your°power  to  have  avoided  them,  in  the  circum- 
stances in  which  you  were  placed."  If  this  will  do 
any  thing,  it  indeed  promises  to  do  much— so  much 


SINNER    STRIPPED    OF    EXCUSES.  79 

that  it  will  amount  to  nothing.  If  I  were  disposed  to 
answer  you  upon  the  folly  and  madness  of  your  own 
principles,  I  might  say  that  the  same  consideration 
which  proves  it  was  necessary  for  you  to  offend, 
proves  also  that  it  is  necessary  for  God  to  punish 
you;  and  that,  indeed,  he  cannot  hut  do  it:  and  I 
might  farther  say  with  an  excellent  writer,  u  that 
the  same  principles  which  destroy  the  injustice  of 
sins,  destroy  the  injustice  of  punishment  too."  But 
if  you  cannot  admit  this  ;  if  you  should  still  reply, 
in  spite  of  principle,  that  it  must  be  unjust  to  punish 
you  for  an  action  utterly  and  absolutely  unavoidable, 
I  really  think  you  would  answer  right.  But  in  that 
answer  you  will  contradict  your  own  scheme,  as  I 
observed  above;  and  I  leave  your  conscience  to 
judge  what  sort  of  a  scheme  that  must  be  which 
would  make  all  kind  of  punishment  unjust;  for  the 
argument  will  on  the  whole  be  the  same,  whether 
with  regard  to  human  punishment  or  divine.  It  is 
a  scheme  full  of  confusion  and  horror.  You  would 
not,  I  am  sure,  take  it  from  a  servant  who  had  rob- 
bed you  and  then  fired  your  house ;  you  would  never 
inwardly  believe  that  he  could  not  have  helped  it, 
or  think  that  he  had  fairly  excused  himself  by  such 
a  plea ;  and  I  am  persuaded  you  would  be  so  far 
from  presuming  to  offer  it  to  God  at  the  great  day, 
that  you  would  not  venture  to  turn  it  into  a  prayer 
even  now.  Imagine  that  you  saw  a  malefactor  dying 
with  such  words  as  these  in  his  mouth :  "  O  God ! 


80  SINNER    STRIPPED    OF    EXCUSES, 

it  is  true  I  did  indeed  rob  and  murder  my  fellow- 
creatures;  but  thou  knowest,  that,  as  my  circum- 
stances were  ordered,  I  could  not  do  otherwise;  my 
will  was  irresistibly  determined  by  the  motives  which 
thou  didst  set  before  me,  and  I  could  as  well  have 
shaken  the  foundations  of  the  earth,  or  darkened  the 
sun  in  the  firmament,  as  have  resisted  the  impulse 
which  bore  me  on."      I  put  it  to  your  conscience 
whether  you  would  not  look  on  such  a  speech  as 
this  with  detestation,  as  one  enormity  added  to  an- 
other.  Yet,  if  the  excuse  would  have  any  weight  in 
your  mouth,  it  would  have  equal  weight  in  his ;  or 
would  be  equally  applicable  to  any,  the  most  shock- 
ing occasions.    But  indeed  it  is  so  contrary  to  the 
plainest  principles   of  common  reason,  that  I  can 
hardly  persuade  myself  that  any  one  could  seriously 
and  thoroughly  believe  it;  and  should  imagine  my 
time  very  ill  employed  here  if  I  were  to  set  myself  to 
combat  those  pretences  to  argument  by  which  the  wan- 
tonness of  human  wit  has  attempted  to  varnish  it  over. 
1 1.  You  see  then,  on  the  whole,  the  vanity  of  all 
your  pleas,  and  how  easily  the  most  plausible  of 
them  mio-ht  be  silenced  by  a  mortal  man  like  your- 
self' how  much  more  then  by  Him  who  searches 
all  hearts,  and  can,  in  a  moment,  flash  in  upon  the 
conscience  a  most  powerful  and  irresistible  convic- 
tion? What  then  can  you  do,  while  you  stand  con- 
victed in  the  presence  of  God  9  What  should  you  do, 
but  hold  your  peace  under  an  inward  sense  of  your 


MEDITATION    OF    A    CONVINCED    SINNER.        81 

inexcusable  guilt,  and  prepare  yourself  to  hear  the 
sentence  which  his  law  pronounces  against  you? 
You  must  feel  the  execution  of  it,  if  the  Gospel  does 
not  at  length  deliver  you  ;  and  you  must  feel  some- 
thing of  the  terror  of  it  before  you  can  be  excited  to 
seek  to  that  Gospel  for  deliverance. 

The  Meditation  of  a  convinced  Sinner  giving  up  his  vain 
pleas  before  God. 

"  Deplorable  condition  to  which  I  am  indeed  re- 
duced !  I  have  sinned,  and  '  what  shall  I  say  unto 
thee,  O  thou  Preserver  of  men?'  Job,  7  :  20.  What 
shall  I  dare  to  say  ?  Fool  that  I  was,  to  amuse  my- 
self with  such  trifling  excuses  as  these,  and  to  ima- 
gine they  could  have  any  weight  in  thy  tremendous 
presence,  or  that  I  should  be  able  so  much  as  to 
mention  them  there.  I  cannot  presume  to  do  it.  I 
am  silent  and  confounded :  my  hopes,  alas !  are  slain, 
and  my  soul  itself  is  ready  to  die  too,  so  far  as  an 
immortal  soul  can  die ;  and  I  am  almost  ready  to 
say,  O  that  it  could  die  entirely !  I  am  indeed  a  cri- 
minal in  the  hands  of  justice,  quite  disarmed,  and 
stripped  of  the  weapons  in  which  I  trusted.  Dissi- 
mulation can  only  add  provocation  to  provocation. 
I  will  therefore  plainly  and  freely  own  it.  I  have 
acted  as  if  I  thought  God  was  '  altogether  such  a 
one  as  myself:'  but  he  hath  said,  '  I  will  reprove 
thee  ;  I  will  set  thy  sins  in  order  before  thine  eyes  ;' 


82        MEDITATION    OF    A    CONVINCED    SINNER. 

(Psal.  50:  21.)  will  marshal  them  in  battle  array. 
And,  oh !  what  a  terrible  kind  of  host  do  they  ap- 
pear !  and  how  do  they  surround  me  beyond  any 
possibility  of  an  escape !  O  my  soul  !  they  have,  as 
it  were,  taken  thee  prisoner,  and  they  are  bearing 
thee  away  to  the  divine  tribunal. 

"  Thou  must  appear  before  it !  thou  must  see  the 
awful,  the  eternal  Judge,  who  '  tries  the  very  reins,' 
(Jer.  27  :  10.)  and  who  needs  no  other  evidence,  for 
he  has  *  himself  been  witness  to  all  thy  rebellion.' 
Jer.  29  :  23.  Thou  must  see  him,  O  my  soul !  sitting 
in  judgment  upon  thee ;  and,  when  he  is  strict  to 
'  mark  iniquity,'  (Psal.  130  :  3.)  how  wilt  thou  an- 
swer him  for  one  of  a  thousand  !'  Job,  9  :  3.  And  if 
thou  canst  not  answer  him,  in  what  language  will 
he  speak  to  thee  !  Lord,  as  things  at  present  stand, 
I  can  expect  no  other  language  than  that  of  con- 
demnation. And  what  a  condemnation  is  it !  Let 
me  reflect  upon  it !  Let  me  read  my  sentence  before 
I  hear  it  finally  and  irreversibly  passed.  I  know 
he  has  recorded  it  in  his  word,  and  I  know,  in  the 
general,  that  the  representation  is  made  with  a  gra- 
cious design.  I  know  that  he  would  have  us  alarm- 
ed, that  we  may  not  be  destroyed.  Speak  to  me, 
therefore,  0  God !  while  thou  speakest  not  for  the 
last  time,  and  in  circumstances  when  thou  wilt  hear 
me  no  more.  Speak  in  the  language  of  effectual 
terror,  so  that  it  be  not  to  speak  me  into  final  despair. 
And  let  thy  word,  however  painful  in  its  operation, 


MEDITATION    OF    A    CONVINCED    SINNER.        83 

be  '  quick  and  powerful,  and  sharper  than  any  two- 
edged  sword.'   Heb.  4:12.    Let  me  not  vainly  flatter 
myself,  let  me  not  be  left  a  wretched  prey  to  those 
who  would  prophecy  smooth  things  to  me,'    (Isa. 
30  :  10,)  till  I  am  sealed  up  under  wrath,  and  feel 
thy  justice  piercing  my  soul,  and   '  the  poison  of 
thine  arrows  drinking  up  all  my  spirits.'  Job,  6 :  4. 
"  Before  I  enter  upon  the  particular  view,  I  know, 
m  the  general,  that  "  it  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  living  God.'  Heb.  10:  31.    O  thou 
living  God !  in  one  sense  I  am  already  fallen  into 
thine  hands.     I  am  become  obnoxious  to  thy  dis- 
pleasure, justly  obnoxious  to  it;  and  whatever  thy 
sentence  may  be,  when  it  comes  forth  from  thy  pre- 
sence (Psal.  17:2,)  I  must  condemn    myself  and 
justify  thee.    Thou  canst  not  treat  me  with  more  se- 
verity than  mine  iniquities  have  deserved ;  and  how 
bitter  soever  that  cup  of  trembling  may  be  (Isa. 
51:  17,)  which  thou  shalt  appoint  for  me,  I  give 
judgment  against  myself,  that  I  deserve  '  to  wring 
out  the  very  dregs  of  it.'"  Psalm  75  :  8 


84  THE    SINNER    SENTENCED. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE    SINNER  SENTENCED. 

1.  2.  The  sinner  called  upon  to  hear  his  sentence.— 3.  God's 
law  does  now  in  general  pronounce  a  curse.— A.  It  pronounces 
death. — 5.  And  being  turned  into  hell. — 6.  The  judgment- 
day  shall  come. — 7.  8.  The  solemnity  of  that  grand  process 
described  according  to  scriptural  representations  of  it. — 9. 
With  a  particular  illustration  of  the  sentence,  "Depart,  ac- 
cursed," &c. — 10.  The  execution  will  certainly  and  imme- 
diately follow . — 11.  The  sinner  warned  to  prepare  for  en- 
during it.  The  refection  of  a  sinner  struck  with  the  terror 
of  his  sentence 

1,  Hear,  O  sinner!  and  I  will  speak  (Job,  42: 
4.)  yet  once  more,  as  in  the  name  of  God,  of  God 
thine  Almighty  Judge,  who,  if  thou  dost  not  attend 
to  his  servants,  will,  ere  long,  speak  unto  thee  in  a 
more  immediate  manner,  with  an  energy  and  terror 
which  thou  shalt  not  be  able  to  resist. 

2.  Thou  hast  been  convicted,  as  in  his  presence. 
Thy  pleas  have  been  overruled,  or  rather  they  have 
been  silenced.  It  appears  before  God,  it  appears  to 
thine  own  conscience  that  thou  hast  nothing  more  to 
offer  in  arrest  of  judgment ;  therefore  hear  thy  sen- 
tence, and  summon  up,  if  thou  canst,  all  the  powers 
of  thy  soul  to  bear  the  execution  of  it.  "  It  is,"  •'•> 
deed,  a  very  small  thing  "  to  be  judged  of  man's 


SINNER    SENTENCED.  85 

judgment ;"  but  "  he  who  now  judgeth  thee  is  the 
Lord."  1  Cor.  4  :  3,  4.  Hear,  therefore,  and  tremble, 
while  I  tell  thee  how  he  will  speak  to  thee ;  or  ra- 
ther, while  I  show  thee,  from  express  Scripture,  how 
he  doth  even  now  speak,  and  what  is  the  authentic 
and  recorded  sentence  of  his  word,  even  of  his  word 
who  hath  said,  "  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away, 
but  not  one  tittle  of  my  word  shall  ever  pass  away." 
Matt.  5:  18. 

3.  The  law  of  God  speaks  not  to  thee  alone,  O  sin- 
ner !  nor  to  thee  by  any  particular  address  ;  but  in  a 
most  universal  language  it  speaks  to  all  transgres- 
sors, and  levels  its  terrors  against  all  offences,  great 
or  small,  without  any  exception.    And  this  is  its  lan- 
guage :  "  Cursed  is  every  one  that  continueth  not  in 
all  things  which  are  written  in  the  book  of  the  law 
to  do  them."   Gal.  3:10.     This  is  its  voice  to  the 
whole  world ;  and  this  it  speaks  to  thee.    Its  awful 
contents  are  thy  personal  concern,  O  reader !  and 
thy  conscience  knows  it.    Far  from  continuing  in  all 
things  that  are  written  therein  to   do  them,   thou 
canst  not  but  be  sensible  that  "innumerable  evils 
have  encompassed  thee  about."  Psa.  40:  12.    It  is 
then  manifest  thou  art  the  man  whom  it  condemns  : 
thou  art  even  now  "  cursed  with  a  curse,"  as  God 
emphatically  speaks,  (Mai.  3  :  9.)  with  the  curse  of 
the  Most  High  God ;  yea,  "  all  the  curses  which  arc 
written  in  the  book  of  the  law"  are  pointed  against 
thee.   Deut.  29  :  20.     God  may  righteously  execute 
8 


86  SINNER    SENTENCED. 

any  of  them  upon  thee  in  a  moment ;  and  though 
thou  at  present  feelest  none  of  them,  yet,  if  infinite 
mercy  do  not  prevent,  it  is  but  a  little  while  and 
they  will  "  come  into  thy  bowels  like  water,"  till 
thou  art  burst  asunder  with  them,  and  shall  pene- 
trate "  like  oil  into  thy  bones."   Psa.  109  :  1  8. 

4.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  "  The  soul  that  sinneth, 
it  shall  die."  Ezek.  18:4.  But  thou  hast  sinned,  and 
therefore  thou  art  under  a  sentence  of  death.    And, 
O  unhappy  creature,  of  what  a  death !   What  will 
the  end  of  these  things  be  %  That  the  agonies  of  dis- 
solving nature  shall  seize  thee,  and  thy  soul  shall 
be  torn  away  from  thy  languishing  body,  and  thou 
"  return  to  the  dust  from  whence  thou  wast  taken." 
Psal.  104:  29.    This  is  indeed  one  awful  effect  of 
sin.   In  these  affecting  characters  has  God,  through 
all  nations  and  all  ages  of  men,  written  the  awful 
register  and  memorial  of  his  holy  abhorrence  of  it, 
and  righteous  displeasure  against  it.    But,  alas  !   all 
this  solemn  pomp  and  horror  of  dying  is  but  the, 
opening  of  the  dreadful  scene.   It  is  a  rough  kind  oi 
stroke,  by  which  the  fetters  are  knocked  off  when 
the  criminal  is  led  out  to  torture  and  execution. 

5.  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  "  The  wicked  shall  be 
turned  into  hell,  even  all  the  nations  that  forger 
God."  Psal.  9  :  17.  Though  there  be  whole  nations 
of  them,  their  multitudes  and  their  power  shall  b< 
no  defence  to  them.  They  shall  be  driven  into  hel 
together— into  that  flaming  prison  which  divine  ven 


SINNER    SENTENCED.  87 

geance  hath  prepared— into  "  Tophet,  which  is  or- 
dained of  old,  even  for  royal  sinners,"  as  well  as  for 
others ;  so  little  can  any  human  distinction  protect ! 
"  He  hath  made  it  deep  and  large  :  the  pile  thereof  is 
fire  and  much  wood ;  the  breath  of  the  Lord,  like  a 
stream  of  brimstone,  shall  kindle  it :"  (Isa.  30 :  33,) 
and  the  flaming  torrent  shall  flow  in  upon  it  so  fast, 
that  it  shall  be  turned  into  a -sea  of  liquid  fire;  or, 
as  the  Scripture  also  expresses  it,  "  a  lake  burning 
with  fire  and  brimstone"  for  ever.  Rev.  21  :  8. 
"  This  is  the  second  death,"  and  the  death  to  which 
thou,  O  sinner !  by  the  word  of  God  art  doomed. 

6.  Ana!  shall  this  sentence  stand  upon  record  in 
vain  ?  Shall  the  law  speak  it,  and  the  Gospel  speak 
it?  and  shall  it  never  be  pronounced  more  audibly? 
and  will  God  never  require  and  execute  the  punish- 
ment? He  will,  O  sinner  !  require  it ;  and  he  will 
execute  it,  though  he  may  seem  for  a  while  to  delay. 
For  well  dost  thou  know  that  "  he  hath  appointed 
a  day  in  which  he  will  judge  the"  whole  "  world  in 
righteousness,  by  that  Man  whom  he  hath  ordained, 
of  which  he  hath  given  assurance  in  having  raised 
him  from  the  dead."  Acts,  17:  31.  And  when  God 
judgeth  the  world,  O  reader  !  whoever  thou  art,  he 
will  judge  thee.  And  while  I  remind  thee  of  it,  I 
would  also  remember  that  he  will  judge  me.  And 
"knowing  the  terror  of  the  Lord,"  (2  Cor.  5:  11,) 
that  I  may  "  deliver  my  own  soul,"  (Ezek.  33  :  9.) 
I  would,  with  all  plainness  and  sincerity,  labor  to  de- 
liver thine. 


88  JUDGMENT    DAY    WILL    COME. 

7.  I  therefore  repeat  the  solemn  warning :  Thou, 
O  sinner  !  shalt  "  stand  before  the  judgment-seat  of 
Christ."  2  Cor.  5:  10.  Thou  shalt  see  that  pompous 
appearance,  the  description  of  which  is  grown  so 
familiar  to  thee  that  the  repetition  of  it  makes  no  im- 
pression on  thy  mind.  But  surely,  stupid  as  thou  now 
art,  the  shrill  trumpet  of  the  archangel  shall  shake 
thy  very  soul :  and  if  nothing  else  can  awaken  and 
alarm  thee,  the  convulsions  and  flames  of  a  dissolv- 
ing world  shall  do  it. 

8.  Dost  thou  really  think  that  the  intent  of  Christ's 
final  appearance  is  only  to  recover  his  people  from 
the  grave,  and  to  raise  them  to  glory  and  happiness  ? 
Whatever  assurance  thou  hast  that  there  shall  be  "  a 
resurrection  of  the  just,"  thou  hast  the  same  that 
there  shall  also  be  "a  resurrection  of  the  unjust;" 
(Acts,  24:  15,)  that  "he  shall  separate"  the  rising 
dead  "  one  from  another,  as  a  shepherd  divideth  the 
sheep  from  the  goats,"  (Matt.  25:  32,)  with  equal 
certainty,  and  with  infinitely  greater  ease.  Or  can 
you  imagine  that  he  will  only  make  an  example  of 
some  flagrant  and  notorious  sinners,  when  it  is  said 
that  "  all  the  dead,"  both  "  small  and  great,"  shall 
"stand  before  God;"  (Rev.  20:  12,)  and  that  even 
"he  who  knew  not  his  Master's  will,"  and  consequent- 
ly seems  of  all  others  to  have  had  the  fairest  excuse 
for  his  omission  to  obey  it,  yet  even  "  he,"  for  that 
very  omission,  "shall  be  beaten,"  though  "  with 
fewer  stripes?"   Luke.   12:  48.  Or  can  you  think 


JUDGMENT    DAY    AWFUL.  89 

that  a  sentence,  to  be  delivered  with  so  much  pomp 
and  majesty,  a  sentence  by  which  the  righteous 
judgment  of  God  is  to  be  revealed,  and  to  have  its 
most  conspicuous  and  final  triumph,  will  be  incon- 
siderable, or  the  punishment  to  which  it  shall  con- 
sign the  sinner  be  slight  or  tolerable?  There  would 
have  been  little  reason  to  apprehend  that,  even  if  we 
had  been  left  barely  to  our  own  conjectures  what 
that  sentence  should  be.    But  this  is  far  from  being 
the  case  :  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  his  infinite  con- 
descension and  compassion,  has  been  pleased  to  give 
us  a  copy  of  the  sentence,  and  no  doubt  a  most  exact 
copy ;  and  the  words  which  contain  it  are  worthy  of 
being  inscribed  on  every  heart.  "  The  King,"  amidst 
all  the  splendor  and  dignity  in  which  he  shall  then 
appear,  "  shall  say  unto  those  on  his  right  hand, 
Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  king- 
dom prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world  !"  Matt.  25  :  34.    And  "  where  the  word  of  a 
king  is,  there  is  power  "  indeed.  Eccles.  8  :  4.  And 
these  words  have  a  power  which  may  justly  animate 
the  heart  of  the  humble  Christian  under  the  most 
overwhelming  sorrow,  and  may  fill  him  "  with  joy 
unspeakable  and  full  of  glory."   1  Pet.  1 :  8.  To  be 
pronounced  the  blessed  of  the  Lord  !  to  be  called  to 
a  kingdom  !  to  the  immediate,  the  everlasting  inhe- 
ritance of  it ;  and  of  such  a  kingdom  !  so  well  pre- 
pared, so  glorious,  so  complete,  so  exquisitely  fitted 
for  the  delight  and  entertainment  of  such  creatures, 


90  JUDGMENT    DAY    AWFUL. 

so  formed  and  so  renewed  that  it  shall  appear  wor- 
thy the  eternal  counsels  of  God  to  have  contrived  it, 
worthy  his  eternal  love  to  have  prepared  it,  and  to 
have  delighted  himself  with  the  views  of  bestowing 
it  upon  his  people :  behold  a  blessed  hope  indeed  !  a 
lively,  glorious  hope,  to  which  we  are  •'begotten 
again  by  the  resurrection  of  Christ  from  the  dead," 
( 1  Pet.  1  :  3,)  and  formed  by  the  sanctifying  influence 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon  our  minds.  But  it  is  a  hope 
from  which  thou,  O  sinner!  art  at  present  excluded  ; 
and  methinks  that  it  might  be  grievous  to  reflect, 
"  These  gracious  words  shall  Christ  speak  to  some, 
to  multitudes— but  not  to  me;  on  me  there  is  no 
blessedness  pronounced ;  for  me  there  is  no  kingdom 
prepared."  But  is  that  all  1  Alas  !   sinner,  our  Lord 
hath  given  thee  a  dreadful  counterpart  to  this.  He  has 
told  us  what  he  will  say  to  thee,  if  thou  continuest 
what  thou  art— to  thee,  and  all  the  nations  of  the  im- 
penitent and  unbelieving  world,  be  they  ever  so  nu- 
merous, be  the  rank  of  particular  criminals  ever  so 
great.  He  shall  say  to  the  "  kings  of  the  earth  "  who 
have  been  rebels  against  him,  to  "the  great  and  rich 
men,  and  the  chief  captains  and  the  mighty  men/| 
as  well  as  to  "  every  bondman  and  every  freeman" 
of  inferior  rank,  (Rev.  9 :    15,)  "Depart  from  me, 
ve  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the  de- 
vil and  his  angels."   Matt.  25 :  41.  Oh  !  pause  upon 
these  weighty  words,  that  thou  mayest  enter  into 
something  of  the  importance  of  them 


JUDGMENT    DAY    AWFUL.  91 

9.  He  will  say,  "  Depart :"  you  shall  be  driven 
from  his  presence  with  disgrace  and  infamy  :  "  from 
him,"  the  source  of  life  and  blessedness,  in  a  near- 
ness to  whom  all  the  inhabitants  of  heaven  con- 
tinually rejoice;  you  shall  "  depart,"  accursed  :  you 
have  broken  God's  law,  and  its  curse  falls  upon  you ; 
and  you  are  and  shall  be  under  that  curse,  that  abid 
ing  curse ;  from  that  day  forward  you  shall  be  re- 
garded by  God  and  all  his  creatures  as  an  accurs- 
ed and  abominable  thing,  as  the  most  detestable  and 
the  most  miserable  part  of  the  creation.  You  shall 
go  "into  fire;"  and,  oh !  consider  into  what  fire! 
Is  it  merely  into  one  fierce  blaze  which  shall  con- 
sume you  in  a  moment,  though  with  exquisite  pain  ? 
That  were  terrible.  But,  oh!  such  terrors  are  not 
to  be  named  with  these.  Thine,  sinner,  "  is  everlast- 
ing fire."  It  is  that  which  our  Lord  hath  m  such 
awful  terms  described  as  prevailing  there,  "  where 
their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not  quenched  f 
and  again,  in  wonderful  compassion,  a  third  time, 
"where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not 
quenched."  Mark,  9  :  44,  46,  48.  Nor  was  it  ori- 
ginally prepared  or  principally  intended  for  you : 
it  was  "  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels  ;"  for 
those  first  grand  rebels  who  were,  immediately  upon 
their  fall,  doomed  to  it :  and  since  you  have  taken 
part  with  them  in  their  apostacy,  you  must  sink  with 
them  into  that  flaming  ruin,  and  sink  so  much  the 
deeper,  as  you  have  despised  the  Savior,  who  was 


92  ILLUSTRATION    OF    THE    SENTENCE. 

never  offered  to  them.  These  must  be  your  com- 
panions and  your  tormentors,  with  whom  you  must 
dwell  for  ever.  And  is  it  I  that  say  this  ?  or  says  not 
the  law  and  the  Gospel  the  same  ?  Does  not  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  expressly  say,  who  is  the  "faith- 
ful and  true  witness,"  (Rev.  3  :  14,)  even  he  who 
himself  is  to  pronounce  the  sentence? 

10.  And  when  it  is  thus  pronounced,  and  pro- 
nounced by  him,  shall  it  not  also  be  executed?  Who 
could  imagine  the  contrary  ?  Who  could  imagine  there 
should  be  all  this  pompous  declaration  to  fill  the 
mind  only  with  vain  terror,  and  that  this  sentence 
should  vanish  into  smoke?  You  may  easily  appre- 
hend that  this  would  be  a  greater  reproach  to  the 
Divine  administration  than  if  sentence  were  never 
to  be  passed.  And  therefore  we  might  easily  have 
inferred  the  execution  of  it,  from  the  process  of  the 
preceding  judgment.  But  lest  the  treacherous  heart 
of  a  sinner  should  deceive  him  with  so  vain  a  hope, 
the  assurance  of  that  execution  is  immediately  added 
in  very  memorable  terms.  It  shall  be  done :  it  shall 
immediately  be  done.  Then,  on  that  very  day,  while 
the  sound  of  it  is  yet  in  their  ears,  "  the  wicked  shall 
go  away  into  everlasting  punishment;"  (Matt.  25  : 
46 ;)  and  thou,  O  reader !  whoever  thou  art,  being 
found  in  their  number,  shalt  go  away  with  them ; 
shalt  be  driven  on  among  all  these  wretched  multi- 
tudes, and  plunged  with  them  into  eternal  ruin.  The 
wide  gates  of  hell  shall  be  open  to  receive  thee  j 


THE    SINNER    SENTENCED.  93 

they  shall  be  shut  upon  thee  for  ever,  to  enclose  thee, 
and  be  fast  barred  by  the  Almighty  hand  of  divine 
justice,  to  prevent  all  hope,  all  possibility  of  escape 
for  ever. 

11.  And  now  "prepare"  thyself  "to  meet  the 
Lord  thy  God."  Amos,  4  :  12.  Summon  up  all  the 
resolution  of  thy  mind  to  endure  such  a  sentence, 
such  an  execution  as  this ;  for  "  he  will  not  meet  thee 
as  a  man ;"  (Isaiah,  47 :  30  ;)  whose  heart  may  some- 
times fail  him  when  about  to  exert  a  needful  act  of 
severity,  so  that  compassion  may  prevail  against 
reason  and  justice.  No,  he  will  meet  thee  as  a  God, 
whose  schemes  and  purposes  are  all  immovable  as 
his  throne.  I  therefore  testify  to  thee  in  his  name 
this  day,  that  if  God  be  true,  he  will  thus  speak  j  and 
that  if  he  be  able,  he  will  thus  act.  And  on  supposi- 
tion of  thy  continuance  in  thine  impenitence  and  un- 
belief, thou  art  brought  into  this  miserable  case,  that 
if  God  be  not  either  false  or  weak,  thou  art  undone, 
thou  art  eternally  undone. 

The  Reflection  of  a  Sinner  struck  with  the  Terror  of 
his  Sentence. 

"  Wretch  that  I  am  !  What  shall  I  do,  or  whither 
shall  I  flee  ?  *  I  am  weighed  in  the  balance,  and  am 
found  wanting.'  Dan.  5  :  27.  This  is  indeed  my 
doom ;  the  doom  I  am  to  expect  from  the  mouth  of 
Christ  himself,  from  the  mouth  of  him  that  died  for 


94  THE    SINNER    SENTENCED. 

the  redemption  and  salvation  of  men.  Dreadful  sen- 
tence! and  so  much  the  more  dreadful  when  consi- 
dered in  that  view !  To  what  shall  I  look  to  save  me 
from  it  ?  To  whom  shall  I  call  ?  Shall  I  say  « to  the 
rocks,  fall  upon  me,  and  to  the  hills,  cover  me? 
Luke,  23 :  30.  What  should  I  gain  by  that  ?  Were 
I  indeed  overwhelmed  with  rocks  and  mountains, 
they  could  not  conceal  me  from  the  notice  of  his  eye ; 
and  his  hand  could  reach  me  with  as  much  ease 
there  as  any  where  else. 

"  Wretch  indeed  that  I  am !   O  that  I  had  never 
been  born  !  O  that  I  had  never  known  the  dignity 
and  prerogative  of  the  rational  nature  !    Fatal  pre- 
rogative indeed,  that  renders  me  obnoxious  to  con- 
demnation and  wrath  !   O  that  I  had  never  been  in- 
structed in  the  will  of  God  at  all,  rather  than  that, 
being  thus  instructed,  I  should  have  disregarded  and 
transgressed  it !  Would  to  God  I  had  been  allied  to 
the  meanest  of  the  human  race,  to  them  that  come 
nearest  to  the  state  of  the  brutes,  rather  than  that  I 
should  have  had  my  lot  in  cultivated  life,  amidst  so 
many  of  the  improvements  of  reason,  and  (dreadful 
reflection  !)  amidst  so  many  of  the  advantages  of  reli- 
gion too !  and  thus  to  have  perverted  all  to  my  own  de- 
struction !  O  that  God  would  take  away  this  rational 
soul !  but,  alas !  it  will  live  for  ever,  will  live  to  feel  the 
agonies  of  eternal  death.  Why  have  I  seen  the  beau- 
ties and  glories  of  a  world  like  this,  to  exchange  it  for 
that  naming  prison!  Why  have  I  tasted  so  many  of 


THE    SINNER    SENTENCED.  95 

my  Creator's  bounties,  to  wring  out  at  last  the  dregs 
of  his  wrath !  Why  have  I  known  the  delights  of 
social  life  and  friendly  converse,  to  exchange  them 
for  the  horrid  company  of  devils  and  damned  spirits 
in  hell !  Oh!  'who  can  dwell '  with  them  in  'de- 
vouring flames  ?  who  can  lie  down  '  with  them  '  in 
everlasting,  everlasting,  everlasting  burnings  V  Isa. 
33:  14. 

"  But  whom  have  I  to  blame  in  all  this  but  my- 
self? What  have  I  to  accuse  but  my  own  stupid  in 
corrigible  folly  ?  On  what  is  all  this  terrible  ruin  to 
be  charged,  but  on  this  one  fatal,  cursed  cause,  that, 
having  broken  God's  law,  I  rejected  his  Gospel  too  ? 

"  Yet  stay,  O  my  soul,  in  the  midst  of  all  these 
doleful  foreboding  complaints.  Can  I  say  that  I  have 
finally  rejected  the  Gospel  ?  Am  I  not  to  this  day 
under  the  sound  of  it  ?  The  sentence  is  not  yet  gone 
forth  against  me  in  so  determinate  a  manner  as  to  be 
utterly  irreversible.  Through  all  this  gloomy  pros- 
pect one  ray  of  hope  breaks  in,  and  it  is  possible  I 
may  yet  be  delivered. 

"  Reviving  thought !  Rejoice  in  it,  0  my  soul ! 
though  it  be  with  trembling,  and  turn  immediately  to 
that  God,  who,  though  provoked  by  ten  thousand  of- 
fences, has  not  yet  '  sworn  in  his  wrath  that  thou 
shalt  never  '  be  permitted  to  hold  further  intercourse 
with  him,  or  to  '  enter  into  his  rest.'    Psalm  95  :  11. 

"  I  do  then,  O  blessed  Lord !  prostrate  myself  in 
the  dust  before  thee.    I  own  1  am  a  condemned  and 


96  THE    SINNER    SENTENCED. 

miserable  creature.  But  my  language  is  that  of  the 
humble  publican,  '  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner  !' 
Luke,  18:  13.  Some  general  and  confused  appre- 
hensions I  have  of  a  way  by  which  I  may  possibly 
escape.  O  God,  whatever  that  way  is,  show  it  me, 
I  beseech  thee  !  Point  it  out  so  plainly  that  I  may 
not  be  able  to  mistake  it !  And  oh !  reconcile  my 
heart  to  it,  be  it  ever  so  humbling,  be  it  ever  so 
painful ! 

"Surely,  Lord,  I  have  much  to  learn  ;  but  be  thou 
my  teacher  !  Stay  for  a  little  moment  thine  uplifted 
hand,  and  in  thine  infinite  compassion  delay  the 
stroke  till  I  inquire  a  little  farther  how  I  may  finally 
avoid  it !" 


sjnner's  helpless  state.  97 


CHAPTER  VII. 


THE  HELPLESS  STATE   OF  THE   SINNER  UNDER   CONDEMNATION. 

1,  2.  The  sinner  urged  to  consider  how  he  can  be  saved  from 
this  impending  ruin. — 3.  Not  by  any  thing  he  can  offer. — 4. 
Nor  by  any  thing  he  can  endure. — 5.  Nor  by  any  thing  he 
can  do  in  the  course  of  future  duty. — 6-8.  Nor  by  any  alli- 
ance with  fellow-sinners  on  earth  or  in  hell. — 9.  Nor  by  any 
interposition  or  intercession  of  angels  or  saints  in  his  favor. 
Hint  of  the  only  method,  to  be  afterwards  more  largely  ex- 
plained.  The  lamentation  of  a  sinner  in  this  miserable  con- 
dition. 

1.  Sinner,  thou  hast  heard  the  sentence  of  God 
as  it  stands  upon  record  in  his  sacred  and  immuta- 
ble word ;  and  wilt  thou  lie  down  under  it  in  ever- 
lasting despair  ?  wilt  thou  make  no  attempt  to  be 
delivered  from  it,  when  it  speaks  nothing  less  than 
eternal  death  to  thy  soul  ?  If  a  criminal,  condemned 
by  human  laws,  has  but  the  least  shadow  of  hope 
that  he  may  escape,  he  is  all  attention  to  it.  If  there 
be  a  friend  who  he  thinks  can  help  him,  with  what 
strong  importunity  does  he  entreat  the  interposition  of 
that  friend  1  And  even  while  he  is  before  the  judge, 
how  difficult  is  it  often  to  force  him  away  from  the  bar, 
while  the  cry  of  mercy,  mercy,  mercy,  may  be  heard, 
though  it  be  never  so  unseasonable  ?  A  mere  possi- 
bility that  it  may  make  some  impression,  makes  him 
9 


98  SINNER  3    HELPLESS    STATE. 

eager  in  it,  and  unwilling  to  be  silenced  and  re- 
moved. 

2.  Wilt  thou  not  then,  O  sinner  !  ere  yet  execution 
is  done,  that  execution  which  may  perhaps  be  done 
this  very  day,  wilt  thou  not  cast  about  in  thy  thoughts 
what  measures  may  be  taken  for  deliverance  ?  Yet 
what  measures  can  be  taken  ?  Consider  attentively, 
for  it  is  an  affair  of  moment.  Thy  wisdom,  thy 
power,  thy  eloquence,  thy  interest  can  never  be  ex- 
erted on  a  greater  occasion.  If  thou  canst  help  thy- 
self, do  it.  If  thou  hast  any  secret  source  of  relief, 
go  not  out  of  thyself  for  other  assistance.  If  thou 
hast  any  sacrifice  to  offer,  if  thou  hast  any  strength 
to  exert ;  yea,  if  thou  hast  any  allies  on  earth,  or  in 
the  invisible  world,  who  can  defend  or  deliver  thee, 
take  thy  own  way,  so  that  thou  mayest  but  be  deli- 
vered at  all,  that  we  may  not  see  thy  ruin.  But  say, 
O  sinner !  in  the  presence  of  God,  what  sacrifice 
thou  wilt  present,  what  strength  thou  wilt  exert,  what 
allies  thou  wilt  have  recourse  to  on  so  urgent,  so 
hopeless  an  occasion.  For  hopeless  I  must  indeed 
pronounce  it,  if  such  methods  are  taken. 

3.  The  justice  of  God  is  injured;  hast  thou  any 
atonement  to  make  to  it  ?  If  thou  wast  brought  to 
an  inquiry  and  proposal,  like  that  of  an  awakened 
sinner,  "  Wherewith  shall  I  come  before  the  Lord, 
and  bow  myself  before  the  high  God  ?  Shall  I  come 
before  him  with  burnt-offerings,  with  calves  of  a 
year  old  ?   Will  the  Lord  be  pleased  with  thousands 


sinner's  helpless  state.  99 

of  rams,  or  with  ten  thousands  of  rivers  of  oil  ?" 
Mic.  6  :  6,  7.  Alas  !  wert  thou  as  great  a  prince  as 
Solomon  himself,  and  couldst  thou  indeed  purchase 
such  sacrifices  as  these,  there  would  be  no  room  to 
mention  them.  "  Lebanon  would  not  be  sufficient  to 
burn,  nor  all  the  beasts  thereof  for  a  burnt-offering." 
Isa.  40  :  16.  Even  under  that  dispensation  which 
admitted  and  required  sacrifices  in  some  cases,  the 
blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats,  though  it  exempted  the 
offender  from  farther  temporal  punishment,  "  could 
not  take  away  sin,"  (Heb.  10  :  4.)  nor  prevail  by 
any  means  to  purge  the  conscience  in  the  sight  of 
God.  And  that  soul  that  had  "  done  aught  presump- 
tuously" was  not  allowed  to  bring  any  sin-offering, 
or  trespass-offering  at  all,  but  was  condemned  to 
"die  without  mercy."  Numb.  15  :  30.  Now  God  and 
thine  own  conscience  know  that  thine  offences  have 
not  been  merely  the  errors  of  ignorance  and  inad- 
vertency, but  that  thou  hast  sinned  with  a  high  hand 
in  repeated  aggravated  instances,  as  thou  hast  acknow- 
ledged already.  Shouldst  thou  add,  with  the  wretched 
sinner  described  above,  "  Shall  I  give  my  first-born 
for  my  transgression,  the  fruit  of  my  body  for  the  sin 
of  my  soul?"  Mic.  6  :  7.  What  could  the  blood  of 
a  beloved  child  do  in  such  a  case,  but  dye  thy  crimes 
so  much  the  deeper  and  add  a  yet  unknown  horror 
to  them  ?  Thou  hast  offended  a  Being  of  infinite 
majesty;  and  if  that  offence  is  to  be  expiated  by 
blood,  it  must  be  another  kind  of  blood  than  that 


100  sinner's  helpless  state. 

which  flows  in  the  veins  of  thy  children,  or  in  thine 
own. 

4.  Wilt  thou  then  suffer  thyself  till  thou  hast  made 
full  satisfaction  ?  But  how  shall  that  satisfaction  be 
made  ?  Shall  it  be  by  any  calamities  to  be  endured 
in  this  mortal,  momentary  life?  Is  the  justice  of 
God  then  esteemed  so  little  a  thing,  that  the  sorrows 
of  a  few  days  should  suffice  to  answer  its  demands  ? 
Or  dost  thou  think  of  future  sufferings  in  the  invisi- 
ble world  ?  If  thou  dost,  that  is  not  deliverance ;  anc 
with  regard  to  that,  I  may  venture  to  say,  when  thou 
hast  made  full  satisfaction,  thou  wilt  be  released; 
when  thou  hast  paid  the  uttermost  farthing  of  that 
debt,  thy  prison-doors  shall  be  opened ;  but  in  the 
mean  time  thou  must  "  make  thy  bed  in  hell :"  Psalm 
139  :  8.)  and,  oh !  unhappy  man,  wilt  thou  lie  down 
there  with  a  secret  hope  that  the  moment  will  come 
when  the  rigor  of  Divine  justice  will  not  be  able  to  in- 
flict any  thing  more  than  thou  hast  endured,  and  when 
thou  mayest  claim  thy  discharge  as  a  matter  of  right  ? 
It  would  indeed  be  well  for  thee  if  thou  couldst  carry 
down  with  thee  such  a  hope,  false  and  flattering  as 
it  is  ;  but,  alas  !  thou  wilt  see  things  in  so  just  a  light, 
that  to  have  no  comfort  but  this  will  be  eternal  de- 
spair. That  one  word  of  thy  sentence,  "  everlasting 
fire :"  that  one  declaration,  "  the  worm  dieth  not,  and 
the  fire  is  not  quenched,"  will  be  sufficient  to  strike 
such  a  thought  into  black  confusion,  and  to  over- 
whelm thee  with  hopeless  agony  and  horror. 


INNER  S    HELPLESS    STATE.  101 

5.  Or  do  you  think  that  your  future  reformation 
and  diligence  in  duty  for  the  time  to  come  will  pro- 
cure your  discharge  from  this  sentence?  Take  heed, 
sinner,  what  kind  of  obedience  thou  thinkest  of  offer- 
ing to  a  holy  God.  That  must  be  spotless  and  com- 
plete which  his  infinite  sanctity  can  approve  and  ac- 
cept, if  he  consider  thee  in  thyself  alone :  there  must 
be  no  inconstancy,  no  forgetfulness,  no  mixture  of 
sin  attending  it.  And  wilt  thou,  enfeebled  as  thou 
art  by  so  much  original  corruption  and  so  many 
sinful  habits  contracted  by  innumerable  actual  trans- 
gressions, undertake  to  render  such  an  obedience, 
and  that  for  all  the  remainder  of  thy  life  ?  In  vain 
wouldst  thou  attempt  it,  even  for  one  day.  New  guilt 
would  immediately  plunge  thee  into  new  ruin.  But 
if  it  did  not,  if  from  this  moment  to  the  very  end  of 
thy  life  all  were  as  complete  obedience  as  the  law  of 
God  required  from  Adam  in  Paradise,  would  that 
be  sufficient  to  cancel  past  guilt?  Would  it  discharge 
an  old  debt,  that  thou  hast  not  contracted  a  new 
one?  Offer  this  to  thy  neighbor,  and  see  if  he  will 
accept  it  for  payment ;  and  if  he  will  not,  wilt  thou 
presume  to  offer  it  to  thy  God  ? 

6.  But  I  will  not  multiply  words  on  so  plain  a 

subject.   While  I  speak  thus,  time  is  passing  away, 

death  presses  on,  and  judgment  is  approaching.  And 

what  can  save  thee  from  these  awful  scenes,  or 

what  can  protect  thee  in  them  ?  Can  the  world  save 

thee — that  vain  delusive  idol  of  thy  wishes  and  pur- 
9* 


102  sinner's  helpless  state. 

suits,  to  which  thou  art  sacrificing-  thine  eternal 
hopes  ?  Well  dost  thou  know  that  it  will  utterly  for- 
sake thee  when  thou  needest  it  most ;  and  that  not 
one  of  its  enjoyments  can  be  carried  along  with  thee 
into  the  invisible  state,  no,  not  so  much  as  a  trifle 
to  remember  it  by,  if  thou  couldst  desire  to  remember 
so  inconstant  and  so  treacherous  a  friend  as  the  world 
has  been. 

7.  And  when  you  are  dead,  or  when  you  are 
dying,  can  your  sinful  companions  save  you?  Is 
there  any  one  of  them,  if  he  were  ever  so  desirous 
of  doing  it,  that  "  can  give  unto  God  a  ransom  for 
you,"  (Psalm  49  :  7,)  to  deliver  you  from  going 
down  to  the  grave,  or  from  going  down  to  hell? 
Alas  !  you  will  probably  be  so  sensible  of  this,  that, 
when  you  lie  on  the  borders  of  the  grave  you  will 
be  unwilling  to  see  or  to  converse  with  those  that 
were  once  your  favorite  companions.  They  will  af- 
flict you  rather  than  relieve  you,  even  then  j  how 
much  less  can  they  relieve  you  before  the  bar  of 
God,  when  they  are  overwhelmed  with  their  own 
condemnation  ! 

8.  As  for  the  powers  of  darkness,  you  are  sure 
they  will  be  far  from  having  any  ability  or  inclina- 
tion to  help  you.  Satan  has  been  watching  and  la- 
boring for  your  destruction,  and  he  will  triumph  in 
it.  But  if  there  could  be  any  thing  of  an  amicable 
confederacy  between  you,  what  would  that  be  but 
an  association  in  ruin?    For  the  day  of  judgment  of 


103 

ungodly  men  will  also  be  the  judgment  of  these  re- 
bellious spirits;  and  the  fire  into  which  thou,  O  sin- 
ner, must  depart,  is  that  which  was  "  prepared  for 
the  devil  and  his  angels."  Matt.  25  :  41. 

9.  Will  the  celestial  spirits  then  save  thee?  Will 
they  interpose  their  power  or  their  prayers  in  thy 
favor  1  An  interposition  of  power,  when  sentence  is 
gone  forth  against  thee,  were  an  act  of  rebellion 
against  heaven,  which  these  holy  and  excellent 
creatures  would  abhor.  And  when  the  final  pleasure 
of  the  Judge  is  known,  instead  of  interceding  in  vain 
for  the  wretched  criminal,  they  would  rather,  with 
ardent  zeal  for  the  glory  of  their  Lord,  and  cordial 
acquiescence  in  the  determination  of  his  wisdom  and 
justice,  prepare  to  execute  it.  Yea,  difficult  as  it  may 
at  present  be  to  conceive  it,  it  is  a  certain  truth,  that 
the  servants  of  Christ,  who  now  most  tenderly  love 
you,  and  most  affectionately  seek  your  salvation,  not 
excepting  those  who  are  allied  to  you  in  the  nearest 
bonds  of  nature  or  of  friendship,  even  they  shall  put 
their  amen  to  it.  Now  indeed  their  bowels  yearn 
over  you,  and  their  eyes  pour  out  tears  on  your  ac- 
count. Now  they  expostulate  with  you,  and  plead 
with  God  for  you,  if  by  any  means,  while  yet  there 
is  hope,  you  may  "  be  plucked  as  a  firebrand  out  of 
the  burning."  Amos,  4:11.  But,  alas!  their  re- 
monstrances you  will  not  regard ;  and  as  for  their 
prayers,  what  should  they  ask  for  you  ?  What  but 
that  you  may  see  yourself  to  be  undone  ;  and  that, 


104  sinner's  lamentation. 

utterly  despairing  of  any  help  from  yourself,  or  from 
any  created  power,  you  may  lie  before  God  in  hu- 
mility and  brokenness  of  heart;  that,  submitting 
yourself  to  his  righteous  judgment,  and  in  an  utter 
renunciation  of  all  self-dependence  and  of  all  crea- 
ture dependence,  you  may  lift  up  an  humble  look  to- 
wards him,  as  almost  from  the  depths  of  hell,  if  per- 
adventure  he  may  have  compassion  upon  you,  and 
may  himself  direct  you  to  that  only  method  of  rescue, 
which,  while  things  continue  as  in  present  circum- 
stances they  are,  neither  earth,  nor  hell,  nor  heaven 
can  afford  you. 

The  Lamentation  of  a  Sinner  in  this  miserable  Condition. 

"  O  !  doleful,  uncomfortable,  helpless  state !  O 
wretch  that  I  am,  to  have  reduced  myself  to  it! 
Poor,  empty,  miserable,  abandoned  creature !  Where 
is  my  pride  and  the  haughtiness  of  my  heart? 
Where  are  my  idol  deities,  '  whom  I  have  loved  and 
served,  after  whom  I  have  walked,  and  whom  I  have 
sought,'  (Jer.  8 :  2,)  while  I  have  been  multiplying 
my  transgressions  against  the  majesty  of  heaven  ? 
Is  there  no  heart  to  have  compassion  upon  me  ?  Is 
there  no  hand  to  save  me  ?  ■  Have  pity  upon  me, 
have  pity  upon  me,  O  my  friends,  for  the  hand  of 
God  hath  touched  me ;:  (Job,  19:21,)  hath  seized 
me !  I  feel  it  pressed  upon  me  hard,  and  what  shall 
I  do  ?  Perhaps  they  have  pity  upon  me ;  but,  alas ! 


105 

how  feeble  a  compassion !  Only,  if  there  be  any- 
where in  the  whole  compass  of  nature  any  help,  tell 
me  where  it  may  be  found  !  O  point  it  out,  direct  me 
toward  it ;  or  rather,  confounded  and  astonished  as 
my  mind  is,  take  me  by  the  hand  and  lead  me  to  it ! 

"  O  ye  ministers  of  the  Lord,  whose  office  it  is  to 
guide  and  comfort  distressed  souls,  take  pity  upon 
me !  I  fear  I  am  a  pattern  of  many  other  helpless 
creatures  who  have  the  like  need  of  your  assistance. 
Lay  aside  your  other  cares  to  care  for  my  soul,  to 
care  for  this  precious  soul  of  mine,  which  lies  as  it 
were  bleeding  to  death,  (if  that  expression  may  be 
used,)  while  you  perhaps  hardly  afford  me  a  look, 
or,  glancing  an  eye  upon  me,  '  pass  over  to  the  other 
side.'  Luke,  10  :  32.  Yet,  alas !  in  a  case  like  mine, 
what  can  your  interposition  avail  if  it  be  alone  :  '  If 
the  Lord  do  not  help  me,  how  can  you  help  me  V 
2  Kings,  6  :  27. 

"  '  O  God,  the  God  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh,' 
(Numb.  16:  22,)  I  lift  up  mine  eyes  unto  thee,  and 
*  cry  unto  thee  as  out  of  the  belly  of  hell.'  Jonah, 
2:2.  I  cry  unto  thee,  at  least  from  the  borders  of  it. 
Yet,  while  I  lie  before  thee  in  this  infinite  distress,  I 
know  that  thine  Almighty  power  and  boundless 
grace  can  still  find  oift  a  way  for  my  recovery. 

11  Thou  art  he  whom  I  have  most  of  all  injured 
and  affronted ;  and  yet  from  thee  alone  must  I  now 
seek  redress.  '  Against  thee,  thee  only,  have  I  sinned, 
and  done  evil  in  thy  sight ;'  so  that  '  thou  mightest 


106  sinner's  lamentation. 

be  justified  when  thou  speakest,  and  be  clear  when 
thou  judgest,'  (Psa.  51 ;  4,)  though  thou  shouldst  at 
this  moment  adjudge  me  to  eternal  misery.  And  yet 
I  find  something  that  secretly  draws  me  to  thee,  as 
if  I  might  find  rescue  there,  where  I  have  deserved 
the  most  aggravated  destruction.  Blessed  God,  I 
'  have  destroyed  myself;  but  in  thee  is  my  help.' 
(Hos.  13  :  9.)  if  there  can  be  help  at  all. 

"  I  know,  in  the  general,  that  ■  thy  ways  are  not 
as  our  ways,  nor  thy  thoughts  as  our  thoughts  ;'  but 
are  as  'high  above  them  as  the  heavens  are  above 
the  earth.'  Isa.  55  :  8,  9.  *  Have  mercy,'  therefore, 
'upon  me,  O  God,  according  to  thy  loving-kindness, 
according  to  the  multitude  of  thy  tender  mercies  V 
Psa.  51:1.  O  point  out  the  path  to  the  city  of  re- 
fuge! O  '  lead  me'  thyself '  in  the  way  everlasting !' 
Psa.  139:24.  I  know,  in  the  general,  that  thy 
Gospel  is  the  only  remedy :  O  teach  thy  servants  to 
administer  it !  O  prepare  my  heart  to  receive  it !  and 
suffer  not,  as  in  many  instances,  that  malignity 
which  has  spread  itself  through  all  my  nature,  to 
turn  that  noble  medicine  into  poison  !" 


NEWS    OF    SALVATION.  107 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


NEWS    OF   SALVATION  BY  CHRIST   BROUGHT   TO   THE   CONVINCED 
AND   CONDEMNED   SINNER. 

1.  The  awful  things  which  have  hitherto  been  said,  intended 
not  to  grieve,  but  to  help.— 2.  After  some  reflection  on  the 
pleasure  with  which  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  may  deliver  tftk 
message  with  which  he  is  charged.— -3.  And  some  reasons  for 
the  repetition  of  what  is  in  speculation  so  generally  known. — 4. 
6.  The  author  proceeds  briefly  to  declare  the  substance  of  these 
glad  tidings :  viz.  that  God  having  in  his  infinite  compas- 
sion sent  his  Son  to  die  for  sinners,  is  now  reconcilable 
through  him.—l.  8.  So  that  the  most  heinous  transgressions 
shall  be  entirely  pardoned  to  believers,  and  they  made  com- 
pletely and  eternally  happy.  The  sinner's  reflection  on  this 
good  news. 

1.  My  dear  reader,  it  is  the  great  design  of  the 
Gospel,  and  wherever  it  is  cordially  received,  it  is 
the  glorious  effect  of  it,  to  fill  the  heart  with  senti- 
ments of  love ;  to  teach  us  to  abhor  all  unnecessary- 
rigor  and  severity,  and  to  delight  not  in  the  grief, 
but  in  the  happiness  of  our  fellow-creatures.  I  can 
hardly  apprehend  how  he  can  be  a  Christian  who 
takes  pleasure  in  the  distress  which  appears  even  in 
a  brute,  much  less  in  that  of  a  human  mind ;  and 
especially  in  such  distress  as  the  thoughts  I  have 
been  proposing  must  give,  if  there  be  any  due  atten- 


108  NEWS    OF    SALVATION. 

tion  to  their  weight  and  energy.  I  have  often  felt  a 
tender  regret  while  I  have  been  representing  these 
things ;  and  I  could  have  wished  from  my  heart 
that  it  had  not  been  necessary  to  have  placed  them 
in  so  severe  and  so  painful  a  light.  But  now  I  am 
addressing  myself  to  a  part  of  my  work  which  I  un- 
dertake with  unutterable  pleasure,  and  to  that  which 
indeed  I  had  in  view  in  all  those  awful  things  which 
J  have  already  been  laying  before  you.  I  have  been 
showing  you,  that,  if  you  hitherto  have  lived  in  a 
state  of  impenitence  and  sin,  you  are  condemned  by 
God's  righteous  judgment,  and  have  in  yourself  no 
spring  of  hope  and  no  possibility  of  deliverance. 
But  I  mean  not  to  leave  you  under  this  sad  appre- 
hension, to  lie  down  and  die  in  despair,  complaining 
of  that  cruel  zeal  which  has  "  tormented  you  before 
your  time."  Matt.  8  :  29. 

2.  Arise,  O  thou  dejected  soul,  that  art  prostrate 
in  the  dust  before  God,  and  trembling  under  the  ter- 
ror of  his  righteous  sentence ;  for  I  am  commission- 
ed to  tell  thee,  that,  though  "  thou  hast  destroyed 
thyself,  in  God  is  thine  help."  Hos.  13:9.  I  bring 
thee  "good  tidings  of  great  joy,"  (Luke,  2  :  10.) 
which  delight  mine  own  heart  while  I  proclaim 
them,  and  will,  I  hope,  reach  and  revive  thine— even 
the  tidings  of  salvation  by  the  blood  and  righteous- 
ness of  the  Redeemer.  And  I  give  it  thee  for  thy 
greater  security,  in  the  words  of  a  gracious  and  for- 
giving God,  that  "  he  is  in  Christ  reconciling  the 


NEWS    OF    SALVATION.  109 

world  unto  himself,  and  not  imputing  to  them  their 
trespasses."  2  Cor.  5:  19. 

3.  This  is  the  best  news  that  ever  was  heard,  the 
most  important  message  which  God  ever  sent  to  his 
creatures ;  and  though  I  doubt  not  that,  living  as 
you  have  done  in  a  Christian  country,  you  have 
heard  it  often,  perhaps  a  thousand  and  a  thousand 
times ;  I  will,  with  all  simplicity  and  plainness,  re- 
peat it  to  you  again,  and  repeat  it  as  if  you  had  never 
heard  it  before.  If  thou,  O  sinner,  shouldst  now  for 
the  first  time  feel  it,  then  will  it  be  as  a  new  Gospel 
unto  thee,  though  so  familiar  to  thine  ear;  nor  shall 
it  be  "  grievous  to  me  "  to  speak  what  is  so  common, 
"  since  to  you  it  is  safe"  and  necessary.  Phil.  3  :  1. 
They  who  are  most  deeply  and  intimately  acquaint- 
ed with  it,  instead  of  being  cloyed  and  satiated,  will 
hear  it  with  distinguished  pleasure;  and  as  for  those 
who  have  hitherto  slighted  it,  I  am  sure  they  had 
need  to  hear  it  again.  Nor  is  it  absolutely  impossi- 
ble that  some  one  soul  at  least  may  read  these  lines 
who  hath  never  been  clearly  and  fully  instructed  in 
this  important  doctrine,  though  his  everlasting  all 
depends  on  knowing  and  receiving  it.  I  will  there- 
fore take  care  that  such  a  one  shall  not  have  it  to 
plead  at  the  bar  of  God,  that,  though  he  lived  in  a 
Christian  country,  he  was  never  plainly  and  faith- 
fully taught  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ, 
"  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life,  by  whom  alone  we 
come  unto  the  Father."  John,  14:  6. 
10 


HO  NEWS    OF    SALVATION'. 

4.  I  do  therefore  testify  unto  you  this  day,  that  the 
holy  and  gracious  Majesty  of  heaven  and  earth,  fore- 
seeing the  fatal  apostacy  into  which  the  whole  hu- 
man race  would  fall,  did  not  determine  to  deal  in  a 
way  of  strict  and  rigorous  severity  with  us,  so  as 
to  consign  us  over  to  universal  ruin  and  inevitable 
damnation ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  he  determined  to 
enter  into  a  treaty  of  peace  and  reconciliation,  and  to 
publish  to  all  whom  the  Gospel  should  reach,  the  ex- 
press offers  of  life  and  glory,  in  a  certain  method  which 
his  infinite  wisdom  judged  suitable  to  the  purity 
of  his  nature  and  the  honor  of  his  government.  This 
method  was  indeed  a  most  astonishing  one,  which, 
familiar  as  it  is  to  our  thoughts  and  our  tongues,  I. 
cannot  recollect  and  mention  without  great  amaze- 
ment. He  determined  to  send  his  own  Son  into  the 
world,  "  the  brightness  of  his  glory  and  the  express 
image  of  his  person,"  (Heb.  1 :  3.)  partaker  of  his 
own  divine  perfections  and  honors,  to  be,  not  merely 
a  teacher  of  righteousness  and  a  messenger  of  grace, 
but  also  a  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  men ;  and  would 
consent  to  his  saving  them  on  no  other  condition  but 
this,  that  he  should  not  only  labor,  but  die  in  the  cause. 

5.  Accordingly,  at  such  a  period  of  time  as  infi- 
nite wisdom  saw  most  convenient,  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  appeared  in  human  flesh  ;  and  after  he  had 
gone  through  incessant  and  long-continued  fatigue, 
and  borne  all  the  preceeding  injuries  which  the  in- 
gratitude and  malice  of  men  could  inflict,  he  volun- 


NEWS    OF    SALVATION.  Ill 

tarily  "submitted  himself  to  death,  even  the  death  of 
the  cross  ;"  (Phil.  2  :  8,)  and  having  been  u  delivered 
for  our  offences,  was  raised  again  for  our  justifica- 
tion." Rom.  4  :  25.  After  his  resurrection  he  con- 
tinued long  enough  on  earth  to  give  his  followers 
most  convincing  evidences  of  it,  and  then  "  ascended 
into  heaven  in  their  sight;"  (Acts,  1:  9-11,)  and 
sent  down  his  Spirit  from  thence  unto  his  apostles, 
to  enable  them,  in  the  most  persuasive  and  authori- 
tative manner,  "to  preach  the  Gospel;"  and  he  has 
given  it  in  charge  to  them,  and  to  those  who  in  every 
age  succeed  them  in  this  part  of  their  office,  that  it 
should  be  published  "  to  every  creature,"  (Mark, 
16  :  15,)  that  all  who  believe  in  it  may  be  saved  by 
virtue  of  its  abiding  energy,  and  the  immutable  pow- 
er and  grace  of  its  divine  Author,  who  is  "  the  same 
yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever."    Heb.  13:8. 

6.  This  Gospel  do  I  therefore  now  preach  and 
proclaim  unto  thee,  O  reader,  with  the  sincerest  de- 
sire that,  through  divine  grace,  it  may  "  this  very  day 
be  salvation  to  thy  soul."  Luke,  19  :  9.  Know  there- 
fore and  consider  it,  whosoever  thou  art,  that  as 
surely  as  these  words  are  now  before  thine  eyes,  so 
sure  it  is  that  the  incarnate  Son  of  God  was  "  made 
a  spectacle  to  the  world,  and  to  angels,  and  to  men  ;" 
(1  Cor.  4:  9.)  his  back  torn  with  scourges,  his  head 
with  thorns,  his  limbs  stretched  out  as  on  a  rack, 
and  nailed  to  the  accursed  tree  ;  and  in  this  misera- 
ble condition  he  was  hung  by  his  hands  and  feet,  as 


112  NEWS    OF    SALVATION. 

an  object  of  public  infamy  and  contempt.  Thus  did 
he  die  in  the  midst  of  all  the  taunts  and  insults  of 
his  cruel  enemies,  who  thirsted  for  his  blood  ;  and, 
which  was  the  saddest  circumstance  of  all,  in  the 
midst  of  those  agonies  with  which  he  closed  the  most 
innocent,  perfect,  and  useful  life  that  ever  was  spent 
on  earth,  he  had  not  those  supports  of  the  divine 
presence  which  sinful  men  have  often  experienced 
when  they  have  been  suffering  for  the  testimony  of 
their  conscience.  They  have  often  burst  out  into 
transports  of  joy  and  songs  of  praise,  while  their  ex- 
ecutioners have  been  glutting  their  hellish  malice, 
and  more  than  savage  barbarity,  by  making  their 
torments  artificially  grievous ;  but  the  crucified  Jesus 
cried  out,  in  the  distress  of  his  spotless  and  holy 
soul,  "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken 
me?"   Matt.  27:  46. 

7.  Look  upon  your  dear  Redeemer  !  look  up  to 
this  mournful,  dreadful,  yet,  in  one  view,  delightful 
spectacle !  and  then  ask  thine  own  heart,  Do  I  be- 
lieve that  Jesus  suffered  and  died  thus?  And  why 
did  he  suffer  and  die?  Let  me  answer  in  God's  own 
words,  "  He  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions,  he 
was  bruised  for  our  iniquities,  and  the  chastisement 
of  our  peace  was  upon  him,  that  by  his  stripes  we 
might  be  healed  :  it  pleased  the  Lord  to.  bruise  him, 
and  put  him  to  grief,  when  he  made  his  soul  an  of- 
fering/or  sin;  for  the  Lord  laid  on  him  the  iniquity 
of  us  all."   Isai.  53  :  5,  6,  10.  So  that  I  may  address 


NEWS    OF    SALVATION.  113 

you  in  the  words  of  the  apostle,  "  Be  it  known  unto 
you  therefore,  that  through  this  man  is  preached  un- 
to you  the  forgiveness  of  sins  ;"  (Acts,  13  :  38,)  as  it 
was  his  command,  just  after  he  arose  from  the  dead, 
"that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should  be 
preached  in  his  name  among  all  nations,  beginning 
at  Jerusalem,"  (Luke,  24  :  47,)  the  -very  place  where 
his  blood  had  so  lately  been  shed  in  such  a  cruel 
manner.  I  do  thereby  testify  to  you,  in  the  words 
of  another  inspired  writer,  that  Christ  was  made  sin, 
that  is,  a  sin  offering,  "  for  us,  though  he  knew  no 
sin,  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God 
in  him:"  (2  Cor.  5:  21,)  that  is,  that  through  the 
righteousness  he  has  fulfilled,  and  the  atonement  he 
has  made,  we  might  be  accepted  by  God  as  righte- 
ous, and  be  not  only  pardoned,  but  received  into 
his  favor.  "  To  you  is  the  word  of  this  salvation 
sent,"  (Acts,  13  :  26,)  and  to  you,  O  reader,  are  the 
blessings  of  it  even  now  offered  by  God,  sincerely 
offered  ;  so  that,  after  all  that  I  have  said  under  the 
former  heads,  it  is  not  your  having  broken  the  law 
of  God  that  shall  prove  your  ruin,  if  you  do  not  also 
reject  his  Gospel.  It  is  not  all  those  legions  of  sins 
which  rise  up  in  battle  array  against  you  that  shall 
oe  able  to  destroy  you,  if  unbelief  do  not  lead  them 
»n,  and  final  impenitency  do  not  bring  up  the  rear. 
I  know  that  guilt  is  a  timorous  thing ;  I  will  there- 
fore speak  in  the  words  of  God  himself,  nor  can  any 
fee  more  comfortable :  "  He  that  beiieveth  on  the  Son, 
10* 


114  NEWS    OF    SALVATION. 

hath  everlasting  life,"  (John,  3  :  36,)  "  and  he  shall 
never  come  into  condemnation."  John,  5:  24.  "There 
is  therefore  now  no  condemnation,"  no  kind  or  degree 
of  it,  "to  them,"  to  any  one  of  them,  "who  are  in 
Jesus  Christ,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after 
the  spirit."  Rom.  8:1.  You  have  indeed  been  a  very 
great  sinner,  and  your  offences  have  truly  been  at- 
tended with  most  heinous  aggravations ;  neverthe- 
less you  may  rejoice  in  the  assurance,  that  "  where 
sin  hath  abounded,  there  shall  grace  much  more 
abound ;  "  that  where  sin  hath  reigned  unto  death," 
where  it  has  had  its  most  unlimited  sway  and  most 
unresisted  triumph,  there  "  shall  righteousness  reign 
to  eternal  life,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." 
Rom.  5:  21.  That  righteousness,  to  which  on  be- 
lieving on  him  thou  wilt  be  entitled,  shall  not  only 
break  those  chains  by  which  sin  is,  as  it  were,  drag- 
ging thee  at  its  chariot-wheels  with  a  furious  pace 
to  eternal  ruin,  but  it  shall  clothe  thee  with  the  robes 
of  salvation,  shall  fix  thee  on  a  throne  of  glory,  where 
thou  shalt  live  and  reign  for  ever  among  the  princes 
of  heaven,  shalt  reign  in  immortal  beauty  and  joy, 
without  one  remaining  scar  of  divine  displeasure 
upon  thee,  without  any  single  mark  by  which  it 
could  be  known  that  thou  hadst  even  been  obnoxious 
to  wrath  and  a  curse,  except  it  be  an  anthem  of  praise 
to  "the  Lamb  that  was  slain,  and  has  washed  thee 
from  thy  sins  in  his  own  blood."  Rev.  1  :  5. 

8.  Nor  is  it  necessary,  in  order  to  thy  being  re- 


NEWS    OF    SALVATION.  115 

leased  from  guilt,  and  entitled  to  this  high  and  conv 
plete  felicity,  that  thou  shouldst,  before  thou  wilt  ven- 
ture to  apply  to  Jesus,  bring  any  good  works  of  thine 
own  to  recommend  thee  to  his  acceptance.  It  is  in- 
deed true,  that,  if  thy  faith  be  sincere,  it  will  certain- 
ly produce  them ;  but  I  have  the  authority  of  the 
word  of  God  to  tell  thee,  that  if  thou  this  day  sin- 
cerely believest  in  the  name  of  the  Son  of  God,  thou 
shalt  this  day  be  taken  under  his  care,  and  be  num- 
bered among  those  of  his  sheep  to  whom  he  hath 
graciously  declared  that  "he  will  give  eternal  life, 
and  that  they  shall  never  perish."  John,  10  :  28 
Thou  hast  no  need  therefore  to  say,  "  Who  shall  go 
up  into  heaven,  or  who  shall  descend  into  the  deep 
for  me  1  For  the  word  is  nigh  thee,  in  thy  mouth, 
and  in  thy  heart."  Rom.  10  :  6,  7,  8.  With  this  joy- 
ful message  I  leave  thee  ;  with  this  faithful  saying, 
indeed  "worthy  of  all  acceptation;"  (1  Tim.  1  : 
15;)  with  this  Gospel,  O  sinner,  which  is  my  life ; 
and  which,  if  thou  dost  not  reject,  will  be  thine  too 

The  Sinner's  Reflection  on  this  Good  News. 

11 0  my  soul,  how  astonishing  is  the  message 
which  thou  hast  this  day  received !  I  have  indeed 
often  heard  it  before,  and  it  is  grown  so  common  to 
me,  that  the  surprise  is  not  sensible.  But  reflect,  O 
my  soul,  what  it  is  thou  hast  heard,  and  say  whe- 
ther the  name  of  a  Savior,  whose  message  it  is,  may 
not  well  be  called  '  Wonderful,  Counsellor,'  (Isaiah, 


116  NEWS    OF    SALVATION. 

9:6,)  when  he  displays  before  thee  such  wonders 
of  love,  and  proposes  to  thee  such  counsels  of  peace! 
"  Blessed  Jesus,  is  it  indeed  thus  1  Is  it  not  the 
fiction  of  the  human  mind  ?  Surely  it  is  not !  What 
human  mind  could  have  invented  or  conceived  it  ? 
It  is  a  plain,  a  certain  fact,  that  thou  didst  leave  the 
magnificence  and  joy  of  the  heavenly  world  in  com- 
passion to  such  a  wretch  as  I !  Oh !  hadst  thou 
from  that  height  of  dignity  and  felicity  only  looked 
down  upon  me  for  one  moment,  and  sent  some  gra- 
cious word  to  me  for  my  direction  and  comfort,  even 
by  the  least  of  thy  servants,  justly  might  I  have 
prostrated  myself  in  grateful  admiration,  and  have 
kissed  'the  very  footsteps'  of  him  'that  published 
the  salvation.'  Isaiah,  52  :  7.  But  didst  thou  conde- 
scend to  be  thyself  the  messenger  1  What  grace  had 
that  been,  though  thou  hadst  but  once  in  person 
made  the  declaration,  and  immediately  returned  back 
to  the  throne  from  whence  divine  compassion  brought 
thee  down  ?  But  this  is  not  all  the  triumph  of  thine 
illustrious  grace.  It  not  only  brought  thee  down  to 
earth,  but  kept  thee  here  in  a  frail  and  wretched  ta- 
bernacle, for  long  successive  years  ;  and  at  length  it 
cost  thee  thy  life,  and  stretched  thee  out  as  a  male- 
factor upon  the  cross,  after  thou  hadst  borne  insult 
and  cruelty  which  it  may  justly  wound  my  heart  so 
much  as  to  think  of.  And  thus  thou  hast  atoned  in- 
jured justice,  and  'redeemed  me  to  God  with  thine 
own  blood.'  Rev.  5  :  9. 


NEWS    OF    SALVATION.  117 

11  What  shall  I  say  1  '  Lord,  I  believe ;  help  thou 
my  unbelief!'  Mark,  9  :  24.  It  seems  to  put  faith  to 
the  stretch,  to  admit  what  it  indeed  exceeds  the  ut- 
most stretch  of  imagination  to  conceive.  Blessed, 
for  ever  blessed  be  thy  name,  O  thou  Father  of  mer- 
cies, that  thou  hast  contrived  the  way !  Eternal 
thanks  to  the  Lamb  that  was  slain,  and  to  that  kind 
Providence  that  sent  the  word  of  this  salvation  to 
me !  O  let  me  not,  for  ten  thousand  worlds,  '  receive 
the  grace  of  God  in  vain !'  2  Cor.  6:1.0  impress 
this  Gospel  upon  my  soul,  till  its  saving  virtue  be 
diffused  over  every  faculty !  Let  it  not  only  be  heard, 
and  acknowledged,  and  professed,  but  felt !  Make  it 
'  thy  power  to  my  eternal  salvation ;'  (Rom.  1 :  16.) 
and  raise  me  to  that  humble,  tender  gratitude,  to  that 
active,  unwearied  zeal  in  thy  service,  which  becomes 
one  'to  whom  so  much  is  forgiven,'  (Luke,  7:  47.) 
and  forgiven  upon  such  terms  as  these. 

"  I  feel  a  sudden  glow  in  mine  heart  while  these 
tidings  are  sounding  in  mine  ears ;  but,  oh !  let  it 
not  be  a  slight  superficial  transport !  O  let  not  this, 
which  I  would  fain  call  my  Christian  joy,  be  as  that 
foolish  laughter,  with  which  I  have  been  so  madly 
enchanted,  *  like  the  crackling  blaze  of  thorns  under 
a  pot!'  Eccles.  7:6.  O  teach  me  to  secure  this 
mighty  blessing,  this  glorious  hope,  in  the  method 
which  thou  hast  appointed  ;  and  preserve  me  from 
mistaking  the  joy  of  nature,  while  it  catches  a 
glimpse  of  its  rescue  from  destruction,  for  that  con 


118  SALVATION,    HOW    OBTAINED. 

sent  of  grace  which  embraces  and  ensures  the  de- 
liverance !" 


CHAPTER   IX, 


A     MORE    PARTICULAR    ACCOUNT    OF    THE    WAY    BY    WHICH    THIS 
SALVATION   IS    TO   BE    OBTAINED. 

1.  An  inquiry  into  the  way  of  salvation  by  Christ  being  sup- 
posed.— 2.  The  sinner  is  in  general  directed  to  repentance 
and  faith.— 3.  And  urged  to  give  up  all  self-dependence. — 4, 
And  to  seek  salvation  by  free  grace.— -5.  A  summary  of  more 
particular  directions  is  proposed.— 6.  That  the  sinner  should 
apply  to  Christ. — 7.  With  a  deep  abhorrence  of  his  former 
sins. — 8.  And  a  firm  resolution  of  forsaking  them. — 9.  That 
he  solemnly  commits  his  soul  into  the  hands  of  Christ,  the 
great  vital  act  of  faith.— 10.  Which  is  exemplified  at  large. 
— 11,  TJtat  he  make  it  in  fact  the  governing  care  of  his  fu- 
ture life  to  obey  and  imitate  Christ. — 12.  This  is  the  only 
method  of  obtaining  Gospel  salvation.  The  sinner  delibera- 
ting on  the  necessity  of  accepting  it. 

1.  I  now  consider  you,  my  dear  reader,  as  coming 
to  me  with  the  inquiry  which  the  Jews  once  address- 
ed to  our  Lord,  "  What  shall  we  do.  that  we  may 
work  the  works  of  God  ?"  John,  4  :  28.  "  What  me- 
thod shall  I  take  to  secure  that  redemption  and  sal- 


SALVATION,    HOW    OBTAINED.  1  l9 

vation  which  I  am  told  Christ  has  procured  for  his 
people  ?"  I  would  answer  it  as  seriously  and  care- 
fully as  possible,  as  one  that  knows  of  what  impor- 
tance it  is  to  you  to  be  rightly  informed ;  and  that 
knows  also  how  strictly  he  is  to  answer  to  God  for 
the  sincerity  and  care  with  which  the  reply  is  made. 
May  I  be  enabled  to  "  speak  as  his  oracle,"  ( 1  Pet. 
4  :  11,)  that  is  in  such  a  manner. as  faithfully  to  echo 
back  what  the  sacred  oracles  teach ! 

2.  And  here,  that  I  may  be  sure  to  follow  the  safest 
guides  and  the  fairest  examples,  I  must  preach  sal- 
vation to  you  in  the  way  of  "  repentance  toward  God, 
and  of  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  (Acts,  20 : 
21,)  that  good  old  doctrine  which  the  apostles 
preached,  and  which  no  man  can  pretend  to  change 
but  at  the  peril  of  his  own  soul,  and  of  theirs  who 
attend  to  him. 

3.  I  suppose  that  you  are  by  this  time  convinced 
of  your  guilt  and  condemnation,  and  of  your  own 
inability  to  recover  yourself.  Let  me  nevertheless 
urge  you  to  feel  that  conviction  yet  more  deeply,  and 
to  impress  it  with  yet  greater  weight  upon  your  soul; 
that  you  have  "  undone  yourself,"  and  that  "  in  your- 
self is  not  your  help  found."  Hos.  13:9.  Be  per- 
suaded, therefore,  expressly,  and  solemnly,  and  sin- 
cerely, to  give  up  all  self-dependence  ;  which,  if  you 
do  not  guard  against  it,  will  be  ready  to  return  se- 
cretly before  it  is  observed,  and  will  lead  you  to  at- 
tempt building  up  what  you  have  just  been  destroying. 


120  SALVATION,    HOW    OBTAINED. 

4.  Be  assured,  that,  if  ever  you  are  saved,  you 
must  ascribe  that  salvation  entirely  to  the  free  grace 
of  God.  If,  guilty  and  miserable  as  you  are,  you  are 
not  only  accepted,  but  crowned,  you  must  "  lay  down 
your  crown,"  with  all  humble  acknowledgment, 
"before  the  throne."  Rev.  4  :  10.  "No  flesh  must 
glory  in  his  presence;  but  he  that  glorieth  must 
glory  in  the  Lord.;  for  of  him  are  we  in  Christ 
Jesus,  who  of  God  is  made  unto  us  wisdom,  and 
righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and  redemption." 
1  Cor.  1  :  29,  30,  31.  And  you  must  be  sensible 
you  are  in  such  a  state,  as,  having  none  of  these  in 
yourself,  to  need  them  in  another.  You  must  there- 
fore be  sensible  that  you  are  ignorant  and  guilty, 
polluted  and  enslaved  :  or,  as  our  Lord  expresses  it, 
with  regard  to  some  who  were  under  a  Christian 
profession,  that  as  a  sinner  "  you  are  wretched,  and 
miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked."  Rev, 
3  :  17. 

5.  If  these  views  be  deeply  impressed  upon  your 
mind  you  will  be  prepared  to  receive  what  I  am 
now  to  say.  Hear,  therefore,  in  a  few  words,  your 
duty,  your  remedy,  and  your  safety ;  which  consists 
in  this,  "  That  you  must  apply  to  Christ,  with  a  deep 
abhorrence  of  your  former  sins,  and  a  firm  resolu- 
tion of  forsaking  them ;  forming  that  resolution  in 
the  strength  of  his  grace,  and  fixing  your  depend- 
ence in  him  for  your  acceptance  with  God,  even 
while  you  are  purposing  to  do  your  very  best,  and 


SALVATION,    HOW    OBTAINED.  121 

when  you  have  actually  done  the  best  you  ever  will 
do  in  consequence  of  that  purpose. 

6.  The  first  and  most  important  advice  that  I  can 
give  you  in  your  present  circumstances,  is,  that  you 
look  to  Christ  and  apply  yourself  to  him.  And  here, 
say  not  in  your  heart,  "  who  shall  ascend  into  hea- 
ven, to  bring  him  down  to  me?"  (Rom.  10  :  6.)  or, 
"  who  shall  raise  me  up  thither,  to  present  me  be- 
fore him  V*  The  blessed  "  Jesus,  by  whom  all  things 
consist,"  (Col.  1  :  17,)  by  whom  the  whole  system 
of  them  is  supported,  "  forgotten  as  he  is  by  most 
that  bear  his  name,"  "  is  not  far  from  any  of  us ;" 
(Acts,  17  :  27,)  nor  could  he  have  promised  to  have 
been  "  wherever  two  or  three  are  met  together  in  his 
name,"  (Matt.  18  :  20,)  but  in  consequence  of  those 
truly  divine  perfections,  by  which  he  is  every  where 
present.  Would  you  therefore,  O  sinner,  desire  to  be 
saved?  Go  to  the  Savior.  Would  you  desire  to  be 
delivered  I  Look  to  that  great  Deliverer  ;  and  though 
you  should  be  overwhelmed  with  guilt,  and  shame, 
and  fear,  or  horror,  that  you  should  be  incapable  of 
speaking  to  him,  fall  down  in  this  speechless  con- 
fusion at  his  feet,  "and  behold  him  as  the  Lamb 
of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world." 
John,  1  :  29. 

7.  Behold  him  therefore  with  an  attentive  eye, 
and  say  whether  the  sight  does  not  touch,  and  even 
melt  thy  very  heart !  Dost  thou  not  feel  what  a  fool- 
ish and  what  a  wretched  creature  thou  hast  been, 

11 


122  SALVATION,    HOW    OBTAINED. 

that,  for  the  sake  of  such  low  and  sordid  gratifica- 
tions and  interests  as  those  which  thou  hast  been 
pursuing,  thou  shouldst  thus  "kill  the  Prince  ot 
Life?"  Acts,  3:15.  Behold  the  deep  wounds  which 
he  bore  for  thee,  "  look  on  him  whom  thou  hast  pierc- 
ed, and  surely  thou  must  mourn,"  (Zech.  12  :  10,) 
unless  thine  heart  be  hardened  into  stone.  Which 
of  thy  past  sins  canst  thou  reflect  upon,  and  say, 
"  For  this  it  is  worth  my  while  to  have  thus  injured 
my  Savior,  and  to  have  exposed  the  Son  of  God  to 
such  sufferings  ?"  And  what  future  temptations  can 
arise  so  considerable,  that  thou  shouldst  say,  "  For 
the  sake  of  this  I  will  crucify  my  Lord  again  I" 
Heb.  6  :  6.  Sinner,  thou  must  repent,  thou  must  re- 
pent of  every  sin,  and  must  forsake  it ;  but,  if  thou 
doest  it  to  any  purpose,  I  well  know  it  must  be  at 
the  foot  of  the  cross.  Thou  must  sacrifice  every  lust, 
even  the  dearest,  though  it  should  be  like  a  "  right 
hand  or  aright  eye;"  (Matt.  5  :  29,  30;)  and  there- 
fore that  thou  mayest,  if  possible,  be  animated  to  it, 
I  have  led  thee  to  that  altar  on  which  "  Christ  him- 
self was  sacrificed  for  thee  an  offering  of  a  sweet 
smelling  savor."  Eph.  5  :  2.  Thou  must  "yield 
up  thyself  to  God  as  one  alive  from  the  dead."  Rom. 
6:15.  And  therefore  I  have  showed  thee  at  what  a 
price  he  purchased  thee  ;  "  for  thou  wast  not  redeem- 
ed with  corruptible  things,  as  silver  and  gold,  but 
with  the  precious  blood  of  the  Son  of  God,  that 
Lamb  without  blemish  and  without  spot."   1  Pet.  1 : 


SALVATION,    HOW    OBTAINED.  123 

18,  19.  And  now  I  would  ask  thee,  as  before  the 
Lord,  what  does  thine  own  heart  say  to  it  ?  Art  thou 
grieved  for  thy  former  offences  ?  Art  thou  willing 
to  forsake  thy  sins  1  Art  thou  willing  to  become  the 
cheerful,  thankful  servant  of  him  who  hath  purchas- 
ed thee  with  his  own  blood  1 

8.  I  will  suppose  such  a  purpose  as  this  rising  in 
thine  heart.  How  determinate  it  is,  and  how  effectual 
it  may  be,  I  know  not ;  what  different  views  may 
arise  hereafter,  or  how  soon  the  present  sense  may 
wear  off.  But  this  I  assuredly  know,  that  thou  wilt 
never  see  reason  to  change  these  views;  for  however 
thou  mayest  alter,  the  "  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever."  Heb.  13:  8. 
And  the  reasons  that  now  recommend  repentance 
and  faith  as  fit  and  necessary,  will  continue  invaria- 
ble as  long  as  the  perfections  of  the  blessed  God  are 
the  same,  and  as  long  as  his  Son  continues  the  same. 

9.  But  while  you  have  these  views  and  these  pur- 
poses, I  must  remind  you  that  this  is  not  all  which 
is  necessary  to  your  salvation.  You  must  not  only 
purpose,  but,  as  God  gives  opportunity,  you  must  act 
as  those  who  are  convinced  of  the  evil  of  sin,  and  of 
the  necessity  and  excellence  of  holiness.  And  that 
you  may  be  enabled  to  do  so  in  other  instances,  you 
must  in  the  first  place,  and  as  the  first  great  work  of 
God,  (as  our  Lord  himself  calls  it,)  "  believe  in  him 
whom  God  hath  sent;"  (John,  6  :  29  ;)  you  must 
confide  in  him;  must  commit  your  soul  into  the 


124  LANGUAGE    OF    SUBMISSION. 

hands  of  Christ,  to  be  saved  by  him  in  his  own  "  ap- 
pointed method  of  salvation."  This  is  the  great  act 
of  saving  faith,  and  I  pray  God  that  you  may  expe- 
rimentally know  what  it  means,  so  as  to  be  able  to 
say  with  the  apostle  Paul,  in  the  near  view  of  death 
itself,  "  I  know  whom  I  have  believed,  and  am  per- 
suaded that  he  is  able  to  keep  that  which  I  have 
committed  to  him  until  that  day;"  (2  Tim.  1  :  12,) 
that  great  decisive  day,  which,  if  we  are  Christians, 
we  have  always  in  view.  To  this  I  would  urge 
you ;  and  O  that  I  could  be  so  happy  as  to  engage 
you  to  it  while  I  am  illustrating  it  in  this  and  the 
following  addresses  !  Be  assured  you  must  not  ap- 
ply yourself  immediately  to  God  absolutely,  or  in 
himself  considered,  in  the  neglect  of  a  Mediator.  It 
will  neither  be  acceptable  to  him,  nor  safe  for  you, 
to  rush  into  his  presence  without  any  regard  to  his 
own  Son,  whom  he  hath  appointed  to  introduce  sin- 
ners to  him.  And  if  you  come  otherwise,  you  come 
as  one  who  is  not  a  sinner.  The  very  manner  of 
presenting  the  address  will  be  interpreted  as  a  denial 
of  that  guilt  with  which  he  knows  you  are  charge- 
able ;  and  therefore  he  will  not  admit  you,  nor  so 
much  as  look  upon  you.  And  accordingly  our  Lord, 
knowing  how  much  every  man  living  was  concern- 
ed in  this,  says,  in  the  most  universal  terms,  "  No 
man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me."  John, 
14:  6. 

10.  Apply  therefore  to  this  glorious  Redeemer, 


LANGUAGE    OF    SUBMISSION.  125 

amiable  as  he  will  appear  to  every  believing  eye  in 
the  blood  which  he  shed  upon  the  cross,  and  in  the 
wounds  which  he  received  there.  Go  to  him,  O  sin- 
ner !  this  day,  this  moment,  with  all  thy  sins  about 
thee.  Go  just  as  thou  art ;  for  if  thou  wilt  never 
apply  to  him  till  thou  art  first  righteous  and  holy, 
thou  wilt  never  be  righteous  and  holy  at  all ;  nor 
canst  be  so  on  this  supposition,  unless  there  were 
some  way  of  being  so  without  him ;  and  then  there 
would  be  no  occasion  for  applying  to  him  for  right- 
eousness and  holiness.  It  were  indeed  as  if  it  should 
be  said  that  a  sick  man  should  defer  his  application 
to  a  physician  till  his  health  is  recovered.  Let  me 
therefore  repeat  it  without  offence,  go  to  him  just  as 
thou  art,  and  say,  (O  that  thou  mayest  this  moment 
be  enabled  to  say  it  from  thy  very  soul !)  "  Blessed 
Jesus,  I  am  surely  one  of  the  most  sinful  and  one 
of  the  most  miserable  creatures  that  ever  fell  pros- 
trate before  thee ;  nevertheless  I  come,  because  I 
have  heard  that  thou  didst  once  say,  ■  Come  unto  me 
all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will 
give  you  rest.'  Matt.  12:  28.  I  come,  because  I 
have  heard  that  thou  didst  graciously  say,  *  Him  that 
cometh  unto  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out.'  John, 
6 :  35.  0  thou  Prince  of  Peace,  O  thou  King  of 
Glory !  I  am  a  condemned,  miserable  sinner ;  I  have 
ruined  my  own  soul,  and  am  condemned  for  ever, 
if  thou  dost  not  help  me  and  save  me.  I  have  broken 
thy  Father's  law  and  thine ;  for  thou  art  '  one  with 
11* 


126  HOLY    LIFE  ESSENTIAL. 

him.'  John,  10:  30.  I  have  deserved  condemnation 
and  wrath ;  and  I  am,  even  at  this  very  moment,  un- 
der a  sentence  of  everlasting-  destruction,  a  destruc- 
tion which  will  be  aggravated  by  all  the  contempt 
that  I  have  cast  upon  thee,  O  thou  bleeding  Lamb 
of  God  !  for  I  cannot  and  will  not  dissemble  it  be- 
fore thee,  that  I  have  wronged  thee,  most  basely  and 
ungratefully  wronged  thee,  under  the  character  of  a 
Savior  as  well  as  of  a  Lord.  But  now  I  am  will- 
ing to  submit  to  thee  ;  and  I  have  brought  my  poor 
trembling  soul  to  lodge  it  in  thine  hands,  if  thou 
wilt  condescend  to  receive  it ;  and  if  thou  dost  not,  it 
must  perish.  O  Lord,  I  lie  at  thy  feet :  stretch  out 
'thy  golden  scepter  that  I  may  live.'  Esth.  4:11. 
•  Yea,  if  it  please  the  King,  let  the  life  of  my  soul 
be  given  me  at  my  petition  !'  Esth.  8:3.  I  have 
no  treasure  wherewith  to  purchase  it,  I  have  no 
equivalent  to  give  thee  for  it ;  but  if  that  compassion- 
ate heart  of  thine  can  find  a  pleasure  in  saving  one 
of  the  most  distressed  creatures  under  heaven,  that 
pleasure  thou  mayest  here  find.  O  Lord,  I  have 
foolishly  attempted  to  be  my  own  savior,  but  it  will 
not  do.  I  am  sensible  the  attempt  is  vain,  and  there- 
fore I  give  it  over,  and  look  unto  thee.  On  thee, 
blessed  Jesus,  who  art  sure  and  steadfast,  do  I  desire 
to  fix  my  anchor.  On  thee,  as  tbe  only  sure  founda- 
tion, would  I  build  my  eternal  hopes.  To  thy  teach- 
ing, O  thou  unerring  Prophet  of  the  Lord,  wouJd  1 
submit :  be  thy  doctrines  ever  so  mysterious,  it  is 


HOLY    LIFE    ESSENTIAL.  127 

enough  for  me  that  thou  thyself  hast  said  it.     To 
thine  atonement,  obedience,  and  intercession,  O  thou 

I   holy  and  ever-acceptable  High  Priest,  would  I  trust. 

|  And  to  thy  government,  O  thou  exalted  Sovereign, 
would  I  yield  a  willing,  delightful  subjection:  in 
token  of  reverence  and  love,  ■  I  kiss  the  Son :'  (Psalm 
2:12.)  I  kiss  the  ground  before  his  feet.  I  admit 
thee,  O  my  Savior !  and  welcome  thee,  with  unut- 

|  terable  joy,  to  the  throne  in  my  heart.  Ascend  it, 
and  reign  there  for  ever  !  Subdue  mine  enemies,  O 
Lord,  for  they  are  thine ;  and  make  me  thy  faithful 

i  and  zealous  servant :  faithful  to  death,  and  zealous 

I  to  eternity." 

11.  Such  as  this  must  be  the  language  of  your 
very  heart  before  the  Lord.    But  then  remember, 

;  that,  in  consequence  thereof,  it  must  be  the  language 

j  of  your  life  too.  The  unmeaning  words  of  the  lips 
would  be  a  vain  mockery.    The  most  affectionate 

I  transport  of  the  passions,  should  it  be  transient  and 
ineffectual,  would  be  but  like  a  blaze  of  straw,  pre- 
sented,  instead  of  incense,  at  his  altar.  With  such 
humility,  with  such  love,  with  such  cordial  self- 
dedication  and  submission  of  soul  must  thou  often 
prostrate  thyself  in  the  presence  of  Christ ;  and  then 
thou  must  go  away,  and  keep  him  in  thy  view; 
must  go  away,  and  live  unto  God  through  him,  de- 
nying ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  and  behaving 
thyself  "  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly,  in  this  vain 
ensnaring  world."   Tit.  2:  12.    You  must  make  it 


128  HOLY    LIFE    ESSENTIAL. 

your  care  to  show  your  love  by  obedience,  by  form- 
ing yourself,  as  much  as  possible,  according  to  the 
temper  and  manner  of  Jesus,  in  whom  you  believe. 
You  must  make  it  the  great  point  of  your  ambition, 
and  a  nobler  view  you  cannot  entertain,  to  be  a  liv- 
ing image  of  Christ ;  that,  so  far  as  circumstances 
will  allow,  even  those  who  have  heard  and  read  but 
little  of  him  may,  by  observing  you,  in  some  mea- 
sure see  and  know  what  kind  of  a  life  that  of  the 
blessed  Jesus  was.  And  this  must  be  your  constant 
care,  your  prevailing  character,  as  long  as  you  live. 
You  must  follow  him  whithersoever  he  leads  you ; 
must  follow  with  a  cross  on  your  shoulder,  when  he 
commands  you  to  "  take  it  up  ;"  (Matt.  16  :  24.)  and 
so  must  be  faithful  even  unto  death,  expecting  "  the 
crown  of  life."  Rev.  2:  10. 

12.  This,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn  from 
the  word  of  God,  is  the  way  to  safety  and  glory : 
the  surest,  the  only  way  you  can  take.  It  is  the  way 
which  every  faithful  minister  of  Christ  has  trod,  and 
is  treading ;  and  the  way  to  which,  as  he  tenders 
the  salvation  of  his  own  soul,  he  must  direct  others. 
We  cannot,  we  would  not  alter  it  in  favor  of  our- 
selves, or  of  our  dearest  friends.  It  is  the  way  in 
which  alone,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  it  becomes  the 
blessed  God  to  save  his  apostate  creatures.  And  there- 
fore, reader,  I  beseech  and  entreat  you  seriously  to 
consider  it ;  and  let  your  own  conscience  answer,  as 
in  the  presence  of  God,  whether  you  are  willing  to 


SINNER    DELIBERATING.  129 

j;  acquiesce  in  it  or  not.  But  know,  that  to  reject  it  is 
thine  eternal  death.    For  as  "  there  is  no  other  name 

i  under  heaven  given  among-  men  whereby  we  can  be 
saved,"  (Acts,  4:  12,)  but  this  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth, 
so  there  is  no  other  method  but  this  in  which  Jesus 

i  himself  will  save  us. 

;  The  Sinner  deliberating  on  the  Expediency  of  falling  in  with 
this  Method  of  Salvation. 

"  Consider,  O  my  soul !  what  answer  wilt  thou 
return  to  such  proposals  as  these  ?  Surely,  if  I  were 
to  speak  the  first  dictate  of  this  corrupt  and  degene- 
rate heart,  it  would  be,  ■  This  is  a  hard  saying,  and 
who  can  hear  it  f  John,  6  :  60.  To  be  thus  hum- 
bled, thus  mortified,  thus  subjected  !  To  take  such  a 
yoke  upon  me,  and  to  carry  it  as  long  as  I,  live ! 
iTo  give  up  every  darling  lust,  though  dear  to  me  as 
a  right  eye,  and  seemingly  necessary  as  a  right 
hand !  To  submit  not  only  my  life,  but  my  heart,  to 
the  command  and  discipline  of  another  !  To  have  a 
master  there,  and  such  a  master  as  will  control  many 
of  its  favorite  affections,  and  direct  them  quite  into 
another  channel !  a  master,  who  himself  represents 
his  commands,  by  taking  up  the  cross  and  following 
him  !  To  adhere  to  the  strictest  rules  of  godliness 
and  sobriety,  of  righteousness  and  truth  ;  not  depart- 
ing from  them  in  any  allowed  instance,  great  or 
small  upon  any  temptation,  for  any  advantage,  to 


130  SINNER    DELIBERATING. 

escape  any  inconvenience  and  evil,  no,  not  even  for 
the  preservation  of  life  itself;  but,  upon  a  proper  call 
of  Providence,  to  act  as  if  I  '  hated  even  my  own 
life!'  Luke,  14:  26.  Lord,  it  is  hard  to  flesh  and 
blood ;  and  yet  I  perceive  and  feel  there  is  one  de- 
mand yet  harder  than  this. 

"  With  all  these  precautions,  with  all  these  morti- 
fications, the  pride  of  my  nature  would  find  some  in- 
ward source  of  pleasure,  might  I  but  secretly  think 
that  I  had  been  my  own  savior,  that  my  own  wis- 
dom and  my  own  resolution  had  broken  the  bands 
and  chains  of  the  enemy,  and  that  I  had  drawn  out 
of  my  own  treasures  the  price  with  which  my  re- 
demption was  purchased.  But  must  I  lie  down  before 
another,  as  guilty  and  condemned,  as  weak  and  help- 
less? And  must  the  obligation  be  multiplied,  and 
must  a  Mediator  have  his  share  too  ?  Must  I  go  to  i 
the  cross  for  my  salvation,  and  seek  my  glory  from 
the  infamy  of  that  %  Must  I  be  stripped  of  every 
pleasing  pretence  to  righteousness,  and  stand,  in  this 
respect,  upon  a  level  with  the  vilest  of  men ;  stand 
at  the  bar  amongst  the  greatest  criminals,  pleading 
guilty  with  them,  and  seeking  deliverance  by  that 
very  act  of  grace  whereby  they  have  obtained  it. 

"  I  dare  not  deliberately  say  this  method  is  un- 
reasonable. My  conscience  testifies  that  I  have 
sinned,  and  cannot  be  justified  before  God  as  an  in- 
nocent and  obedient  creature.  My  conscience  tells 
me  that  all  these  humbling  circumstances  are  fit ; 


SINNER    DELIBERATING.  131 

that  it  is  fit  a  convicted  criminal  should  be  brought 
upon  his  knees ;  that  a  captive  rebel  should  give  up 
the  weapons  of  his  rebellion  and  bow  before  his 
sovereign,  if  he  expects  his  life.  Yea,  my  reason 
as  well  as  my  conscience  tells  me  that  it  is  fit  and 
necessary  that,  if  I  am  saved  at  all,  I  should  be  saved 
from  the  power  and  love  of  sin,  as  well  as  from  the 
condemnation  of  it ;  and  that,  if  sovereign  mercy  gives 
me  a  new  life,  after  having  deserved  eternal  death, 
it  is  most  fit  I  should  '  yield  myself  to  God  as  alive 
from  the  dead.'  Rom.  6:13.  But,  '  O  wretched  man 
that  I  am  !  I  feel  a  law  in  my  members  that  wars 
against  the  law  of  my  mind,'  (Rom.  7  :  23,  24,)  and 
opposes  the  conviction  of  my  reason  and  conscience. 
Who  shall  deliver  me  from  this  bondage?  Who 
shall  make  me  willing  to  do  that  which  I  know  in 
my  own  soul  to  be  most  expedient  ?  O  Lord,  subdue 
my  heart,  and  let  it  not  be  drawn  so  strongly  one 
way,  while  the  nobler  powers  of  my  mind  would  di- 
rect it  another  !  Conquer  every  licentious  principle 
within,  that  it  may  be  my  joy  to  be  so  wisely  go- 
verned and  restrained  !  Especially  subdue  my  pride, 
that  lordly  corruption  which  so  ill  suits  an  impove- 
rished and  condemned  creature,  that  thy  way  of  sal- 
vation may  be  made  amiable  to  me  in  proportion  to 
the  degree  in  which  it  is  humbling !  I  feel  a  dis- 
position to  '  linger  in  Sodom,  but  O  be  merciful  to 
me,  and  pull  me  out  of  it,'  (Gen.  19  :  16,)  before  the 
storm  of  thy  flaming  vengeance  fall,  and  there  be  no 
more  escaping!" 


132  THE    SINNER    ENTREATED. 


CHAPTER  X. 


THE    SINNER   SERIOUSLY   URGED   AND   ENTREATED   TO    ACCEPT    OP 
SALVATION   IN    THIS   WAY. 

I.  Since  many  who  have  been  impressed  with  these  things  suf- 
fer the  impression  to  wear  off. — 2.  Strongly  as  the  case  speaks 
for  itself,  sinners  are  to  be  entreated  to  accept  this  salvation. — 
3.  Accordingly  the  reader  is  entreated — by  the  majesty  and. 
mercy  of  God. — 4.  By  the  dying  love  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. — 5.  By  the  regard  due  to  our  fellow-creatures. — 6. 
By  the  worth  of  his  own  immortal  soul. — 7.  The  matter  is  so- 
lemnly left  with  the  reader,  as  before  God.  The  sinner  yield- 
ing to  these  entreaties,  and  declaring  his  acceptance  of  salvo-  \ 
Hon  by  Christ. 

1.  Thus  far  have  I  often  known  convictions  and 
impressions  to  arise,  (if  I  might  judge  by  the  strong- 
est appearances,)  which  after  all  have  worn  ofTagain. 
Some  unhappy  circumstance  of  external  temptation, 
ever  joined  by  the  inward  reluctance  of  an  unsanc- 
tified  heart  to  this  holy  and  humbling  scheme  of 
redemption,  has  been  the  ruin  of  multitudes.  And, 
"through  the  deceitfulness  of  sin,  they  have  been  har- 
dened," (Heb.  3  :  25,)  till  they  seem  to  have  been| 
"  utterly  destroyed,  and  that  without  remedy."  Prov.: 
29  :  1.  And  therefore,  O  thou  immortal  creature 
who  art  now  reading  these  lines,  I  beseech  thee, 
that,  while  affairs  are  in  this  critical  situation,  while  i 


THE    SINNER    ENTREATED.  133 

there  are  these  balancings  of  mind  between  accept- 
ing and  rejecting  that  glorious  Gospel,  which,  in  the 
integrity  of  ray  heart,  I  have  now  been  laying  before 
you,  you  would  once  more  give  me  an  attentive  audi- 
ence while  I  plead,  in  God's  behalf  shall  I  say  7  or 
rather  in  your  own ;  while,  "  as  an  ambassador  for 
Christ,  and  as  though  God  did  beseech  you  by  me, 
I  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead  that  you  would  be  re- 
conciled to  God,"  (2  Cor.  5  :  20,)  and  would  not, 
after  these  awakenings  and  these  inquiries,  by  a 
madness  which  it  will  surely  be  the  doleful  busi- 
ness of  a  miserable  eternity  to  lament,  reject  this 
compassionate  counsel  of  God  towards  you. 

2.  One  would  indeed  imagine  there  should  be  no 
need  of  importunity  here.  One  would  conclude,  that 
as  soon  as  perishing  sinners  are  told  that  an  offend- 
ed God  is  ready  to  be  reconciled,  that  he  offers  them 
a  full  pardon  for  all  their  aggravated  sins,  yea,  that 
he  is  willing  to  adopt  them  into  his  family  now,  that 
he  may  at  length  admit  them  to  his  heavenly  pre- 
sence ;  all  should,  with  the  utmost  readiness  and 
pleasure,  embrace  so  kind  a  message,  and  fall  at  his 
feet  in  speechless  transports  of  astonishment,  grati- 
tude, and  joy.  But,  alas  !  we  find  it  much  otherwise. 
We  see  multitudes  quite  unmoved,  and  the  impres- 
sions which  are  made  on  many  more  are  feeble  and 
transient.  Lest  it  should  be  thus  with  you,  O  reader ! 
let  me  urge  the  message  with  which  I  have  the  honor 
to  be  charged ;  let  me  entreat  you  to  be  reconciled 
12 


134  THE    SINNER    ENTREATED. 

to  God,  and  to  accept  of  pardon  and  salvation  in  the 
way  in  which  it  is  so  freely  offered  to  you. 

3.  I  entreat  you,  "  by  the  majesty  of  that  God  in 
whose  name  I  come,"  whose  voice  fills  all  heaven 
with  reverence  and  obedience.  He  speaks  not  in 
vain  to  legions  of  angels ;  but  if  there  could  be  any 
contention  among  those  blessed  spirits,  it  would  be, 
who  should  be  first  to  execute  his  commands.  Oh ! 
let  him  not  speak  in  vain  to  a  wretched  mortal !  I 
entreat  you,  "  by  the  terrors  of  his  wrath,"  who  could 
speak  to  you  in  thunder ;  who  could,  by  one  single 
act  of  his  will,  cut  off  this  precarious  life  of  yours, 
and  send  you  down  to  hell.  I  beseech  you  by  his 
mercies,  by  his  tender  mercies,  by  the  bowels  of  his 
compassion,  which  still  yearn  over  you  as  those  of 
a  parent  over  "  a  dear  son,"  over  a  tender  child, 
whom,  notwithstanding  his  former  ungrateful  rebel- 
lion, "he  earnestly  remembers  still."  Jer.  31  :  20. 
I  beseech  and  entreat  you,  "  by  all  this  paternal  good- 
ness," that  you  do  not,  as  it  were,  compel  him  to 
lose  the  character  of  the  gentle  Parent  in  that  of  the 
righteous  Judge ;  so  that,  as  he  threatens  with  re- 
gard to  those  whom  he  had  just  called  his  sons  and 
his  daughters,  "  a  fire  shall  be  kindled  in  his  anger, 
which  shall  burn  unto  the  lowest  hell."  Deut.  32  : 
19,  22. 

4.  I  beseech  you  further,  "  by  the  name  and  love 
of  your  dying  Savior."  I  beseech  you  by  all  the  con- 
descension of  his  incarnation,  by  that  poverty  to 


THE    SINNER    ENTREATED.  135 

which  he  voluntarily  submitted,  "  that  you  might  be 
enriched"  with  eternal  treasures  ;  (2  Cor.  8  :  9,)  by 
all  the  gracious  invitations  which  he  gave,  which 
still  sound  in  his  word,  and  still  coming,  as  it  were, 
warm  from  his  heart,  are  "  sweeter  than  honey,  or 
the  honey-comb."  Psalm  19  :  10.  I  beseech  you  by 
all  his  glorious  works  of  power  and  of  wonder,  which 
were  also  works  of  love.  I  beseech  you  by  the  me- 
mory of  the  most  benevolent  person  and  the  most 
generous  friend.  I  beseech  you  by  the  memory  of 
what  he  suffered,  as  well  as  of  what  he  said  and  did ; 
by  the  agony  which  he  endured  in  the  garden  when 
his  body  was  covered  "  with  a  dew  of  blood."  Luke, 
22  :  44.  I  beseech  you  by  all  that  tender  distress 
which  he  felt  when  his  dearest  friends  "  forsook  him 
and  fled,"  (Matt.  26  :  56,)  and  his  blood-thirsty  ene- 
mies dragged  him  away  like  the  meanest  of  slaves, 
and  like  the  vilest  of  criminals.  I  beseech  you  by 
the  blows  and  bruises,  by  the  stripes  and  lashes 
which  this  injured  Sovereign  endured  while  in  their 
rebellious  hands;  by  the  shame  of  spitting,  from 
which  he  hid  not  that  kind  and  venerable  counte- 
nance." Isa.  50  :  6.  I  beseech  you  "by  the  purple 
robe,  the  scepter  of  reed,  and  the  crown  of  thorns 
which  this  King  of  Glory  wore  that  he  might  set 
us  among  the  princes  of  heaven."  Psalm  113  :  8.  I 
beseech  you  by  the  heavy  burden  of  "  the  cross," 
under  which  he  panted,  and  toiled,  and  fainted  in 
the  painful  way  "to  Golgotha,"  (John,  19  :  17,)  that 


136  THE    SINNER    ENTREATED. 

he  might  free  us  from  the  burden  of  our  sins.  I  be- 
seech you  by  the  remembrance  of  those  rude  nails 
that  tore  the  veins  and  arteries,  the  nerves  and  ten- 
dons of  his  sacred  hands  and  feet ;  and  by  that  invin- 
cible, that  triumphant  goodness,  which,  while  the 
iron  pierced  his  flesh,  engaged  him  to  cry  out,  "  Fa- 
ther, forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do." 
Luke,  23  :  34.  I  beseech  you  by  that  unutterable  an- 
guish which  he  bore  when  lifted  up  upon  the  cross, 
and  extended  there,  as  on  a  rack,  for  six  painful 
hours,  that  you  open  your  heart  to  those  attractive 
influences  which  have  "  drawn  to  him  thousands  and 
ten  thousands."  John,  12  :  32.  I  beseech  you  by  all 
that  insult  and  derision  which  the  "  Lord  of  Glory 
bore  there ;"  (Matt.  27 :  29-44,)  by  that  parching  thirst 
which  could  hardly  obtain  the  relief  of  "  vinegar," 
(John,  19  :  28,  29,)  by  that  doleful  cry  so  astonishing 
in  the  mouth  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  "  My 
God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?"  Matt. 
27  :  46.  I  beseech  you  by  that  grace  that  subdued 
and  pardoned  "  a  dying  malefactor  ;"  (Luke,  23  :  42, 
43,)  by  that  compassion  for  sinners,  by  that  compas- 
sion for  you,  which  wrought  in  his  heart,  long  as 
its  vital  motion  continued,  and  which  ended  not 
when  "  he  bowed  his  head,  saying,  It  is  finished, 
and  gave  up  the  ghost."  John,  19  :  30.  I  beseech 
you  by  the  triumphs  of  that  resurrection  by  which 
he  was  "  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God  with  power ;" 
by  the  spirit  of  holiness  which  wrought  to  accom- 


THE    SINNER    ENTREATED.  137 

plish  it,  (Rom.  1  :  4,)  by  that  gracious  tenderness 
which  attempered  all  those  triumphs,  when  he  said 
to  her  out  of  whom  he  had  cast  seven  devils,  con- 
cerning his  disciples  who  had  treated  him  so  basely, 
11  Go,  tell  my  brethren,  I  ascend  unto  my  Father  and 
your  Father,  unto  my  God  and  your  God."  John, 
20  :  17.  I  beseech  you  by  that  condescension  with 
which  he  said  to  Thomas,  when  his  unbelief  had 
made  such  an  unreasonable  demand,  u  Reach  hither 
thy  finger,  and  behold  mine  hands,  and  reach  hither 
thine  hand,  and  thrust  it  into  my  side ;  and  be  not 
faithless,  but  believing."  John,  20  :  27.  I  beseech  you 
by  that  generous  and  faithful  care  of  his  people, 
which  he  carried  up  with  him  to  the  regions  of 
glory,  and  which  engaged  him  to  send  down  "  his 
Spirit,"  in  that  rich  profusion  of  miraculous  gifts,  to 
spread  the  progress  of  his  saving  word.  Acts,  2  :  33. 
I  beseech  you  by  that  voice  of  sympathy  and  power 
with  which  he  said  to  Saul,  while  injuring  his  church, 
"  Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me?"  (Acts,  9  :  4,) 
by  that  generous  goodness  which  spared  that  pros- 
trate enemy  when  he  lay  trembling  at  his  feet,  and 
raised  him  to  so  high  a  dignity  as  to  be  "  not  inferior 
to  the  very  chiefest  apostles."  2  Cor.  12  :  11.  I  be- 
seech you  by  the  memory  of  all  that  Christ  hath  al- 
ready done  ;  by  the  expectation  of  all  he  will  farther 
do  for  his  people.  I  beseech  you,  at  once,  by  the 
scepter  of  his  grace,  and  by  that  sword  of  his  justice 
with  which  all  his  incorrigible  "enemies"  shall  be 
12* 


138  THE    SINNER    ENTREATED. 

"  slain  before  him,"  (Luke,  19  :  20,)  that  you  do  not 
trifle  away  these  precious  moments  while  his  Spirit 
is  thus  breathing  upon  you ;  that  you  do  not  lose  an 
opportunity  which  may  never  return,  and  on  the  im- 
provement of  which  your  eternity  depends. 

5.  I  beseech  you  "  by  all  the  bowels  of  compas- 
sion which  you  owe  to  the  faithful  ministers  of 
Christ,"  who  are  studying  and  laboring,  preaching 
and  praying,  wearing  out  their  time,  exhausting 
their  strength,  and  very  probably  shortening  their 
lives,  for  the  salvation  of  your  soul,  and  of  souls  like 
yours.  I  beseech  you  by  the  affection  with  which 
all  that  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity  long 
to  see  you  brought  back  to  him.  I  beseech  you  by 
the  friendship  of  the  living,  and  by  the  memory  of 
the  dead,  by  the  ruin  of  those  who  have  trifled 
away  their  days  and  perished  in  their  sins,  and  by 
the  happiness  of  those  who  have  embraced  the  Gos- 
pel, and  are  saved  by  it.  I  beseech  you  by  the  great 
expectation  of  that  important  "  day,  when  the  Lord 
Jesup.  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven ;"  (2  Thess.  1  : 
7,)  by  "  the  terrors  of  a  dissolving  world ;"  (2  Pet. 
3  :  10,)  by  the  "  sound  of  the  archangel's  trumpet," 
(1  Thess.  4:  16,)  and  of  that  infinitely  more  awful 
sentence,  "  Come,  ye  blessed,"  and  "  Depart,  ye 
cursed,"  with  which  that  grand  solemnity  shall  close. 
Matt.  25:  34,41. 

6.  I  beseech  you,  finally,  by  your  own  precious 
and  immortal  soul ;  by  the  sure  prospect  of  a  dying 


THE    SINNER    ENTREATED.  139 

and  as  you  would  feel  one  spark  of  comfort  in  your 
departing-  spirit,  when  your  flesh  and  your  heart  are 
failing*.  I  beseech  you,  by  your  own  personal  appear- 
ance before  the  tribunal  of  Christ,  (for  a  personal  ap- 
pearance it  must  be,  even  to  them  who  now  sit  on 
thrones  of  their  own ;)  by  all  the  transports  of  the 
blessed,  and  by  all  the  agonies  of  the  damned,  the 
one  or  the  other  of  which  must  be  your  everlasting 
portion.  I  affectionately  entreat  and  beseech  you,  in 
the  strength  of  all  these  united  considerations,  as 
you  will  answer  it  to  me,  who  may  in  that  day  be 
summoned  to  testify  against  you ;  and,  which  is  un- 
speakably more,  as  you  will  answer  it  to  your  con- 
science, as  you  will  answer  it  to  the  eternal  Judge, 
that  you  dismiss  not  these  thoughts,  these  medita- 
tions, and  these  cares,  till  you  have  brought  matters 
to  a  happy  issue ;  till  you  have  made  resolute  choice 
of  Christ,  and  his  appointed  way  of  salvation ;  and 
till  you  have  solemnly  devoted  yourself  to  God  in  the 
bonds  of  an  everlasting  covenant. 

7.  And  thus  I  leave  the  matter  before  you,  and 
before  the  Lord.  I  have  told  you  my  errand ;  I  have 
discharged  rny  embassy.  Stronger  arguments  I  can- 
not use ;  more  endearing  and  more  awful  considera- 
tions I  cannot  suggest.  Choose,  therefore,  whether 
you  will  go  out,  as  it  were  clothed  in  sackcloth,  to 
cast  yourself  at  the  feet  of  him  who  now  sends  you 
these  equitable  and  gracious  tersm  of  peace  and  par- 
don ;  or  whether  you  will  hold  it  out  till  he  appears 


140         SINNER    YIELDING    TO    ENTREATIES. 

sword  in  hand  to  reckon  with  you  for  your  treasons 
and  your  crimes,  and  for  this  neglected  embassy 
among  the  rest  of  them.  Fain  would  I  hope  the 
best ;  nor  can  I  believe  that  this  labor  of  love  shall 
be  so  entirely  unsuccessful,  that  not  one  soul  shall 
be  brought  to  the  foot  of  Christ  in  cordial  submis- 
sion and  humble  faith.  ■■  Take  with  you,"  therefore, 
"words,  and  turn  unto  the  Lord;"  (Hos.  14:  2.) 
and  O  that  those  which  follow  might,  in  effect  at 
least,  be  the  genuine  language  of  every  one  that 
reads  them  ! 

The  Sinner  yielding  to  these  Entreaties,  and  declaring  his 
acceptance  of  Salvation  by  Christ. 

"  Blessed  Lord,  it  is  enough  !  It  is  too  much  ! 
Surely  there  needs  not  this  variety  of  arguments, 
this  importunity  of  persuasion,  to  court  me  to  be 
happy,  to  prevail  on  me  to  accept  of  pardon,  of  life, 
of  eternal  glory.  Compassionate  Savior,  my  soul  is 
subdued ;  so  that  I  trust  the  language  of  thy  grief 
is  become  that  of  m}'  penitence,  and  I  may  say,  ■  my 
heart  is  melted  like  wax  in  the  midst  of  my  bowels.' 
Psalm  22 :  14. 

"  O  gracious  Redeemer  !  I  have  already  neglect- 
ed thee  too  long.  I  have  too  often  injured  thee : 
have  crucified  thee  afresh  by  my  guilt  and  impeni- 
tence, as  if  I  had  taken  pleasure  in  '  putting  thee  to 
an  open  shame.'    Heb.  6  :  6.    But  my  heart  now 


SINNER    YIELDING    TO    ENTREATIES.  141 

bows  itself  before  thee  in  humble,  unfeigned  sub- 
mission. I  desire  to  make  no  terms  with  thee  but 
these — that  I  may  be  entirely  thine.  I  cheerfully 
present  thee  with  a  blank,  entreating  thee  that  thou 
will  do  me  the  honor  to  signify  upon  it  what  is  thy 
pleasure.  Teach  me,  O  Lord,  what  thou  wouldst 
have  me  to  do ;  for  I  desire  to  learn  the  lesson,  and 
to  learn  it  that  I  may  practice  it.  If  it  be  more  than 
my  feeble  powers  can  answer,  thou  wilt,  I  hope,  give 
me  more  strength ;  and  in  that  strength  I  will  serve 
thee.  O  receive  a  soul  which  thou  hast  made  will- 
ing to  be  thine ! 

"  No  more,  O  blessed  Jesus,  no  more  is  it  neces- 
sary to  beseech  and  entreat  me.  Permit  me  rather 
to  address  myself  to  thee,  with  all  the  importunity  of 
a  perishing  sinner,  that  at  length  sees  and  knows 
*  there  is  salvation  in  no  other  !'  Acts,  4:12.  Permit 
me  now,  Lord,  to  come  and  throw  myself  at  thy  feet 
like  a  helpless  outcast  that  has  no  shelter  but  in  thy 
gracious  compassion !  like  one  'pursued  by  the  aven- 
ger of  blood,'  and  seeking  earnestly  an  admittance 
1  into  the  city  of  refuge !'  Josh.  20  :  2,  3. 

"  ■  I  wait  for  the  Lord ;  my  soul  doth  wait ;  and 
in  thy  word  do  I  hope,'  (Psalm  130  :  5.)  that  thou 
wilt  'receive  me  graciously.'  Hos.  14:2.  My 
soul  confides  in  thy  goodness,  and  adores  it.  I  adore 
the  patience  which  has  borne  with  me  so  long  ;  and 
the  grace  that  now  makes  me  heartily  willing  to  be 
thine:  to  be  thine  on  thine  own  terms,  thine  on  any 


142  SINNER    YIELDING    TO    ENTREATIES. 

terms.  O  secure  this  treacherous  heart  to  thyself!  O 
unite  me  to  thee  in  such  inseparable  bonds,  that  none 
of  the  allurements  of  flesh  and  blood,  none  of  the 
vanities  of  an  ensnaring  world,  none  of  the  solicita- 
tions of  sinful  companions,  may  draw  me  back  from 
thee,  and  plunge  me  into  new  guilt  and  ruin  !  •  Be 
surety,  O  Lord,  for  thy  servant  for  good,'  (Psalm 
119  :  122,)  that  I  may  still  keep  my  hold  on  thee, 
and  so  on  eternal  life ;  till  at  length  I  know  more 
fully,  by  joyful  and  everlasting  experience,  how 
complete  a  Savior  thou  art.    Amen." 


APPEAL    TO    THE    DOUBTING.  143 


CHAPTER  XL 

A  SOLEMN   ADDRESS   TO    THOSE    WHO    WILL    NOT    BE   PERSUADED 
TO   FALL   IN   WITH   THE    DESIGN    OF   THE   GOSPEL. 

1.  Universal  success  not  to  be  expected. — 2-4.  Yet>  as  unwil- 
ling absolutely  to  give  up  any,  the  author  addresses  those  who 
doubt  the  truth  of  Christianity,  urging  an  inquiry  into  its 
evidences,  and  directing  to  proper  methods  for  that  purpose. 
5.  Those  who  determine  to  give  it  up  without  further  exa- 
mination.— 6.  And  presume  to  set  themselves  to  oppose  it. 
7,  8.  Those  who  speculatively  assent  to  Christianity  as  true 
and  yet  will  sit  down  without  any  practical  regard  to  its  most 
important  and  acknowledged  truths.  Such  are  dismissed  with 
a  representation  of  the  absurdity  of  their  conduct  on  their 
own  principles.— 9,  10.  With  a  solemn  warning  of  its  fatal 
consequences. — 11.  And  a  co-mpassionate  prayer,  which  con- 
cludes this  chapter,  and  this  part  of  the  vjork. 

1.  I  would  humbly  hope  that  the  preceding  chap- 
ters will  be  the  means  of  awakening  some  stupid  and 
insensible  sinners,  the  means  of  convincing  them 
of  their  need  of  Gospel-salvation,  and  of  engaging 
some  cordially  to  accept  it.  Yet  I  cannot  natter  my- 
self so  far  as  to  hope  this  should  be  the  case  with 
regard  to  all  into  whose  hands  this  book  shall  come. 
"  What  am  I,  alas!  better  than  my  fathers,"  (1 
Kings,  19 :  4,)  or  better  than  my  brethren,  who 
have  in  all  ages  been  repeating  their  complaint, 
with  regard  to  multitudes,  that  they  "  have  stretch- 
ed out  their  hand  all  day  long  to  a  disobedient  and 
gainsaying  people!"    Rom.   10:   21.    Many   such 


144  APPEAL    TO    THE    DOUBTING. 

may  perhaps  be  found  in  the  number  of  my  read- 
ers ;  many,  on  whom  neither  considerations  of  ter- 
ror nor  of  love  will  make  any  deep  and  lasting  im- 
pression ;  many,  who,  as  our  Lord  learned  by  expe- 
rience to  express  it,  "  when  we  pipe  to  them,  will 
not  dance  ;  and  when  we  mourn  unto  them,  will  not 
lament."  Matt.  11 :  17.  I  can  say  no  more  to  per- 
suade them,  if  they  make  light  of  what  I  have  al- 
ready said.  Here,  therefore,  we  must  part :  in  this 
chapter  I  must  take  my  leave  of  them  ;  and  O  that  I 
could  do  it  in  such  a  manner  as  to  fix,  at  parting, 
some  conviction  upon  their  hearts,  that  though  I 
seem  to  leave  them  for  a  little  while,  and  send  them 
back  to  review  again  the  former  chapters,  as  those 
in  which  alone  they  have  any  present  concern,  they 
might  soon,  as  it  were,  overtake  me  again,  and  find 
a  suitableness  in  the  remaining  part  of  this  treatise, 
which  at  present  they  cannot  possibly  find.  Unhap- 
py creatures,  I  quit  you  as  a  physician  quits  a  pa- 
tient whom  he  loves,  and  is  just  about  to  give  over 
as  incurable  :  he  returns  again  and  again,  and  re-ex- 
amines the  several  symptoms,  to  observe  whether 
there  be  not  some  one  of  them  more  favorable  than 
the  rest,  which  may  encourage  a  renewed  application. 
2.  So  would  I  once  more  return  to  you.  You  do 
not  find  in  yourself  any  disposition  to  embrace  the 
Gospel,  to  apply  yourself  to  Christ,  to  give  yourself 
up  to  the  service  of  God,  and  to  make  religion  the 
business  of  your  life.    But  if  I  cannot  prevail  upon 


APPEAL    TO    THE    DOUBTING.  145 

you  to  do  this,  let  me  engage  you,  at  least,  to  an- 
swer me,  or  rather  to  answer  your  own  conscience, 
"  Why  you  will  not  do  it  ?"   Is  it  owing  to  any  se- 
ll cret  disbelief  of  the  great  principles  of  religion  ?    If 
I  it  be,  the  case  is  different  from  what  I  have  yet  con- 
sidered, and  the  cure  must  be  different.    This  is  not 
a   place  to  combat  with  the  scruples  of  infidelity. 
Nevertheless,   I  would  desire  you  seriously  to  in- 
quire "  How  far  those  scruples  extend?"    Do  they 
;  affect   any   particular  doctrine  of  the    Gospel  on 
which  my  argument  hath  turned  ;  or  do  they  affect 
the  whole  Christian  revelation  ?    Or  do  they  reach 
yet  farther,  and  extend  themselves  to  natural  reli- 
gion, as  well  as  revealed;  so  that  it  should  be  a 
doubt  with  you,  whether  there  be  any  God,  and 
I  providence,  and  future  state,  or  not?  As  these  cases 
I  are  all  different,  so  it  will  be  of  great  importance  to 
',  distinguish  the  one  from  the  other ;  that  you  may  know 
on  what  principles  to  build  as  certain,  in  the  exami- 
i  nation  of  those  concerning  which  you  are  yet  in  doubt. 
But,  whatever  these  doubts  are,   I  would  farther 
ask  you,  "  How  long  have  they  continued,  and  what 
method  have  you  taken  to  get  them  resolved  ?"   Do 
:  you  imagine,  that,  in  matters  of  such  moment,  it  will 
,  be  an  allowable  case  for  you  to  trifle  on,  neglecting 
[  to  inquire  into  the  evidence  of  these  things,  and  then 
■  plead  your  not  being  satisfied  in  that  evidence,  as 
fan  excuse  for  not  acting  according  to  them?    Must 
i  not  the  principles  of  common  sense  assure  vou,  that, 
13 


146  APPEAL    TO    THE    D0UBTIN6 

if  these  things  be  true,  as  when  you  talk  of  doubt- 
mg  about  them,  you  acknowledge  it  at  least  possi- 
ble they  may  be,  they  are  of  infinitely  greater  im- 
portance than  any  of  the  affairs  of  life,  whether  of 
business  or  pleasure,  for  the  sake  of  which  you  ne- 
glect them  ?  Why  then  do  you  continue  indolent 
and  unconcerned,  from  week  to  week,  and  from 
month  to  month,  which  probably  conscience  tells 
you  is  the  case? 

3.  Do  you  ask,  "  What  method  you  should  take 
to  be  resolved?"  It  is  no  hard  question.  Open  your 
eyes:  set  yourself  to  think:  let  conscience  speak, 
and  verily  do  I  believe,  that,  if  it  be  not  seared  in  an 
uncommon  degree,  you  will  find  shrewd  forebodings 
of  the  certainty  both  of  natural  and  revealed  religion, 
and  of  the  absolute  necessity  of  repentance,  faith,  and 
holiness,  to  a  life  of  future  felicity.  If  you  are  a  per- 
son of  any  learning,  you  cannot  but  know  by  what 
writers,  and  in  what  treatises,  these  great  truths  are 
defended.  And  if  you  are  not,  you  may  find,  in  al- 
most every  town  and  neighborhood,  persons  capable 
of  informing  you  in  the  main  evidences  of  Christian- 
ity, and  of  answering  such  scruples  against  it  as  un- 
learned minds  may  have  met  with.  Set  yourself, 
then,  in  the  name  of  God,  immediately  to  consider 
the  matter.  If  you  study  at  all,  bend  your  studies 
close  this  way,  and  trifle  not  with  mathematics,  or 
poetry,  or  history,  or  law,  or  physic,  which  are  all 
comparatively  light  as  a  .feather,  while  you  neglect 


APPEAL    TO    THE    DOUBTING.  147 

this.  Study  the  argument  as  for  your  life ;  for  much 
more  than  life  depends  on  it.  See  how  far  you  are 
satisfied,  and  why  that  satisfaction  reaches  no  farther. 
Compare  evidences  on  both  sides.  And,  above  all, 
consider  the  design  and  tendency  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. See  to  what  it  will  lead  you,  and  all  them 
that  cordially  obey  it,  and  then  say  whether  it  be 
not  good.  And  consider  how  naturally  its  truth  is 
connected  with  its  goodness.  Trace  the  character 
and  sentiments  of  its  authors,  whose  living  image,  if 
I  may  be  allowed  the  expression,  is  still  preserved  in 
their  writings ;  and  then  ask  your  heart,  can  you 
think  this  was  a  forgery,  an  impious,  cruel  forgery? 
for  such  it  must  have  been,  if  it  were  a  forgery  at  all : 
a  scheme  to  mock  God,  and  to  ruin  men,  even  the 
best  of  men,  such  as  reverenced  conscience,  and  would 
abide  all  extremities  for  what  they  apprehended  to  be 
truth.  Put  the  question  to  your  own  heart,  Can  I  in 
my  conscience  believe  it  to  be  such  an  imposture  1 
Can  I  look  up  to  an  omniscient '  God,  and  say,  "  O 
Lord,  thou  knowest  that  it  is  in  reverence  to  thee,  and 
in  love  to  truth  and  virtue,  that  I  reject  this  book,  and 
the  method  to  happiness  here  laid  down.'  " 

4.  But  there  are  difficulties  in  the  way.  And  what 
then  1  Have  those  difficulties  never  been  cleared  ? 
Go  to  the  living  advocates  for  Christianity,  to  those 
of  whose  abilities,  candor  and  piety  you  have  the 
best  opinion,  if  your  prejudices  will  give  you  leave  to 
have  a  good  opinion  of  any  such  ;  tell  them  your  dif- 
ficulties ;  hear  their  solutions ;   weigh  them  serious- 


148         APPEAL  TO  THE  DOUBTING. 

ly,  as  those  who  know  they  must  answer  it  to  God ; 
and  while  doubts  continue,  follow  the  truth  as  far  as 
it  will  lead  you,  and  take  heed  that  you  do  not  "  im- 
prison it  in  unrighteousness."  Rom.  11:8.  No- 
thing appears  more  inconsistent  and  absurd  than 
for  a  man  solemnly,  to  pretend  dissatisfaction  in  the 
evidences  of  the  Gospel,  as  a  reason  why  he  cannot 
in  conscience  be  a  thorough  Christian  ;  when  at  the 
same  t  me  he  violates  the  most  apparent  dictates  of 
reason  and  conscience,  and  lives  in  vices  condemned 
even  by  the  heathen.  O  sirs  !  Christ  has  judged  con- 
cerning such,  and  judged  most  righteously  and  most 
wisely :  "  They  do  evil,  and  therefore  they  hate  the 
light;  neither  come  they  to  the  light,  lest  their  deeds 
should  be  made  manifest,  and  be  reproved."  John, 
3  :  20.  But  there  is  a  light  that  will  make  manifest 
and  reprove  their  works,  to  which  they  will  be  com- 
pelled to  come,  and  the  painful  scruting  of  which 
they  shall  be  forced  to  abide. 

5.  In  the  mean  time,  if  you  are  determined  to  in- 
quire no  farther  into  the  matter  now,  give  me  leave, 
at  least,  from  a  sincere  concern  that  you  may  not 
heap  upon  your  head  more  aggravated  ruin,  to  en- 
treat you  that  you  would  be  cautious  how  you  ex- 
pose yourself  to  yet  greater  danger,  by  what  you 
must  yourself  own  to  be  unnecessary ;  I  mean  at- 
tempts to  prevent  others  from  believing  the  truth  of 
the  Gospel.  Leave  them,  for  God's  sake,  and  for 
your  own,  in  possession  of  those  pleasures  and  those 


APPEAL  TO  THE  DOUBTING.        149 

hopes  which  nothing  but  Christianity  can  give 
them ;  and  act  not  as  if  you  were  solicitous  to  add  to 
the  guilt  of  an  infidel  the  tenfold  damnation  which 
they,  who  have  been  the  perverters  and  destroyers 
of  the  souls  of  others,  must  expect  to  meet,  if  that 
Gospel,  which  they  have  so  adventurously  opposed, 
shall  prove,  as  it  certainly  will,  a  serious,  and  to 
them  a  dreadful  truth. 

6.  If  I  cannot  prevail  here,  (but  the  pride  of  dis- 
playing a  superiority  of  understanding  should  bear 
on  such  a  reader,  even  in  opposition  to  his  own  fa- 
vorite maxims  of  the  innocence  of  error  and  the 
equality  of  all  religions  consistent  with  social  virtue, 
to  do  his  utmost  to  trample  down  the  Gospel  with, 
contempt,)  I  would,  however,  dismiss  him  with  one 
proposal,  which  I  think  the  importance  of  the  affair 
may  fully  justify.  If  you  have  done  with  your  ex- 
amination into  Christianity,  and  determine  to  live 
and  conduct  yourself  as  it  were  assuredly  false,  sit 
down,  then,  and  make  a  memorandum  of  that  deter- 
mination.   Write  it  down : 

"  On  such  a  day  of  such  a  year,  I  deliberately  re- 
solved that  I  would  live  and  die  rejecting  Christianity 
myself,  and  doing  all  I  could  to  overthrow  it.  This 
day  I  determined,  not  only  to  renounce  all  subjection 
to,  and  expectation  from  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  but  also 
to  make  it  a  serious  part  of  the  business  of  my  life, 
to  destroy,  as  far  as  I  possibly  can,  all  regard  to  him 
in  the  minds  of  others,  and  to  exert  my  most  vigor- 


150  DREADFUL    CASE    OF    THE    DEIST. 

ous  efforts,  in  the  way  of  reasoning  or  of  ridicule,  to 
sink  the  credit  of  his  religion,  and,  if  it  be  possible, 
to  root  it  out  of  the  world;  in  calm,  steady  defiance 
of  that  day,  when  his  followers  say,  He  shall  appear 
in  so  much  majesty  and  terror,  to  execute  the  ven- 
geance threatened  to  his  enemies." 

Dare  you  write  this,  and  sign  it?  I  firmly  believe 
that  many  a  man,  who  would  be  thought  a  deist,  and 
endeavors  to  increase  the  number,  would  not.  And 
if  you  in  particular  dare  not  do  it,  whence  does  that 
small  remainder  of  caution  arise  ?  The  cause  is  plain. 
There  is  in  your  conscience  some  secret  apprehen- 
sion that  this  rejected,  this  opposed,  this  derided 
Gospel  may,  after  all,  prove  true.  And  if  there  be 
such  an  apprehension,  then  let  conscience  do  its  of- 
fice, and  convict  you  of  the  impious  madness  of  act- 
ing as  if  it  were  most  certainly  and  demonstrably 
false.  Let  it  tell  you  at  large,  how  possible  it  is  that 
"  haply  you  may  be  found  fighting  against  God ;" 
(Acts,  5  :  39.)  that,  bold  as  you  are  in  defying  the 
terrors  of  the  Lord,  you  may  possibly  fall  into  his 
hands ;  may  chance  to  hear  that  despised  sentence, 
which,  when  you  hear  it  from  the  mouth  of  the  eter- 
nal Judge,  you  will  not  be  able  to  despise.  I  will  re- 
peat it  again,  in  spite  of  all  your  scorn  :  you  may 
hear  the  King  say  to  you,  "  Depart,  accursed,  into 
everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  an- 
gels." Matt.  25:  41.  And  now,  go  and  pervert  and 
burlesque  the  Scripture,  go  and  satirize  the  charac- 


ADDRESS    TO    NOMINAL    CHRISTIANS.  151 


ter  of  its  heroes,  and  ridicule  the  sublime  discourses 
of  its  prophets  and  its  apostles,  as  some  have  done, 
who  have  left  behind'tlrem  but  the  short  lived  monu- 
!  ments  of  their  ignorance,  their  profaneness,  and  their 
malice.   Go  and  spread,  like  them,  the  banners  of  in- 
fidelity, and  pride  thyself  in  the  number  of  credulous 
!  creatures  listed  under  them.   But  take  heed  lest  the 
J  insulted  Galilean  direct  a  secret  arrow  to  thine  heart, 
t  and  stop  thy  licentious  breath  before  it  has  finished 
the  next  sentence  thou  wouldst  utter  against  him. 

7. 1  will  turn  myself  from  the  deist  or  the  sceptic, 
and  direct  my  address  to  the  nominal  Christian ;  if 
!  he  may  upon  any  terms  be  called  a  Christian,  who 
1  feels  not,  after  all  I  have  pleaded,  a  disposition  to 
i  subject  himself  to  the  government  and  the  grace  of 
that  Savior  whose  name  he  bears.  O  sinner,  thou 
art  turning  away  from  my  Lord,  in  whose  cause  I 
speak ;  but  let  me  earnestly  entreat  thee  seriously  to 
consider  why  thou  art  turning  away :  and  "  to  whom 
thou  wilt  go,"  from  him  whom  thou  acknowledgest 
"  to  have  the  words  of  eternal  life."  John,  6  :  68. 
You  call  yourself  a  Christian,  and  yet  will  not  by 
any  means  be  persuaded  to  seek  salvation  in  good 
earnest  from  and  through  Jesus  Christ,  whom  you 
call  your  Master  and  Lord.  How  do  you  for  a  mo- 
ment excuse  this  negligence  to  your  own  conscience  ? 
If  I  had  urged  you  on  any  controverted  point  il 
might  have  altered  the  case.  If  I  had  labored  hard 
to  make  you  the  disciple  of  any  particular  party  of 


152         ADDRESS    TO    NOMINAL    CHRISTIANS. 

Christians,  your  delay  might  have  been  more  rea- 
sonable ;  nay,  perhaps  your  refusing  to  acquiesce 
might  have  been  an  act  of  apprehended  duty  to  our 
common  Master.    But  is  it  matter  of  controversy 
among  Christians,  whether  there  be  a  great,  holy, 
and  righteous  God ;    and  whether  such  a  Being, 
whom  we  agree  to  own,  should  be  reverenced  and 
loved,  or  neglected  and  dishonored  1    Is  it  matter  of  ' 
controversy,  whether  a  sinner  should  deeply  and  se- 
riously repent  of  his  sins,  or  whether  he  should  go 
on  in  them?    Is  it  a  disputed  point  amongst  us, 
whether  Jesus  became  incarnate,  and  died  upon  the 
cross  for  the  redemption  of  sinners,  or  not  ?  And  if 
it  be  not,  can  it  be  disputed  by  them  who  believe  him 
to  be  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Savior  of  men,  whether 
a  sinner  should  seek  to  him,   or  neglect  him  ;  or 
whether  one  who  professes  to  be  a  Christian  should 
depart  from  iniquity,  or  give  himself  up  to  the  prac- 
tice of  it  ?    Are  the  precepts  of  our  great  Master 
written  so  obscurely  in  his  word,  that  there  should 
be  room  seriously  to  question  whether  he  require  a  . 
devout,  holy,  humble,  spiritual,  watchful,  self-deny-  • 
ing  life,  or  whether  he  allow  the  contrary  %    Has  ; 
Christ,  after  all  his  pretensions  of  bringing  life  and  I 
immortality  to  light,  left  it  more  uncertain  than  he 
found  it,  whether  there  be  any  future  state  of  happi-  • 
ness  and  misery,  or  for  whom  these  states  are  respec-. 
tively  intended  ?  Is  it  a  matter  of  controversy  whether 
God  will,  or  will  not,  a  bring  every  work  into  judg- 


ADDRESS    TO    NOMINAL    CHRISTIANS.  153 

i  ment,  with  every  secret  thing,  whether  it  be  good,  or 
whether  it  be  evil?"  (Eccles.  12:  14.)  or  whether, 
at  the  conclusion  of  that  judgment,  "  the  wicked  shall 
go  away  into  everlasting  punishment,  and  the  righte- 
ous into  life  eternal?"  Matt.  25:  46.     You  will  not 
I  am  sure,  for  very  shame,  pretend  any  doubt  about 
these  things,  and  yet  call  yourself  a  Christian.  Why 
then  will  you  not  be  persuaded  to  lay  them  to  heart, 
i  and  to  act  as  duty  and  interest  so  evidently  require? 
O  sinner,  the  cause  is  too  obvious,  a  cause  indeed 
quite  unworthy  of  being  called  a  reason.     It  is  be- 
cause thou  art  blinded  and  besotted  with  thy  vanities 
I  and  thy  lusts.     It  is  because  thou  hast  some  perish- 
|  ing  trifle,  which  charms  thy  imagination  and  thy 
senses,  so  that  it  is  dearer  to  thee  than  God  and 
Christ,  than  thy  own  soul  and  its  salvation.   It  is,  in 
a  word,  because  thou  art  still  under  the  influence  of 
\  that  carnal  mind,  which,  whatever  pious  forms  it 
[  may  sometimes  admit  and  pretend,  "  is  enmity  against 
God,  and  is  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God,  neither  in- 
deed can  be."    Rom.  8  :  7.    And  therefore  thou  art 
in  the  very  case  of  those  wretches,  concerning  whom 
i  our  Lord  said  in  the  days  of  his  flesh,  "  Ye  will  not 
1  come  unto  me,  that  ye  might  have  life,"  (John,  5 : 
40,)  and  therefore  "  ye  shall  die  in  your  sins."  John, 
8:  24. 

8.  In  this  case  I  see  not  what  it  can  signify,  to 
renew  those  expostulations  and  addresses  which  I 
have  made  in  the  former  chapters.    As  our  blessed 


154  SINNERS    AWFUL    END. 

Redeemer  says  of  those  who  reject  his  Gospel,  "  Ye 
have  both  seen  and  hated  both  me  and  my  Father," 
(John,  15:  24,)  so  may  I  truly  say  with  regard  to 
you,  I  have  endeavored  to  show  you,  in  the  plainest 
and  the  clearest  words,  both  Christ  and  the  Father ; 
I  have  urged  the  obligations  you  are  under  to  both  ; 
I  have  laid  before  you  your  guilt  and  your  condem- 
nation ;  I  have  pointed  out  the  only  remedy ;  I  have 
pointed  out  the  rock  on  which  I  have  built  my  own 
eternal  hopes,  and  the  way  in  which  alone  I  expect 
salvation.  I  have  recommended  those  things  to  you, 
which,  if  God  gives  me  an  opportunity,  I  will,  with 
my  dying  breath,  earnestly  and  affectionately  recom- 
mend to  my  own  children,  and  to  all  the  dearest 
friends  that  I  have  upon  earth,  who  may  then  be 
near  me,  esteeming  it  the  highest  token  of  my  friend- 
ship, the  surest  proof  of  my  love  to  them.  And  if, 
believing  the  Gospel  to  be  true,  you  resolve  to  re- 
ject it,  I  have  nothing  farther  to  say,  but  that  you 
must  abide  the  consequence.  Yet  as  Moses,  when 
he  went  out  from  the  presence  of  Pharaoh  for  tha 
last  time,  finding  his  heart  yet  more  hardened  by  al 
the  judgments  and  deliverances  with  which  he  had 
formerly  been  exercised,  denounced  upon  him  "  God's 
passing  through  the  land  in  terror  to  smite  the  first- 
born with  death,  and  warned  him  of  that  great  and 
lamentable  cry,  which  the  sword  of  the  destroying 
angel  should  raise  throughout  all  his  realm;" 
(Exod.  11  :  4-6.)  so  will  I,  sinner,  now  when  I  am 


sinner's  death.  155 

quitting  thee,  speak  to  thee  yet  again,    "  whether 
thou  wilt  hear,  or  whether  thou  wilt  forbear,"  (Ezek. 
2 :  7,)  and  denounce  that  much  more  terrible  judg- 
;  irient,  which  the  sword  of  divine  vengeance,  already 
whetted  and  drawn,  and  "  bathed,  as  it  were,  in  hea- 
ven," (Isai.   34  :   5,)    is    preparing    against  thee; 
which  shall  end  in  a  much  more  doleful  cry,  though 
i  thou  wert  greater   and  more  obstinate    than  that 
;  haughty  monarch.     Yes,  sinner,  that  I  may,  with 
the  apostle  Paul,  when  turning  to   others  who  are 
more  likely  to  hear  me,  "  shake  my  raiment,  and 
say,  I  am  pure  from  your  blood,"   (Acts,  18  .  6,)  I 
will  once  more  tell  you  what  the  end  of  these  things 
I  will  be.     And,  O  that  I  could  speak  to  purpose !   O 
that  I  could  thunder  in  thine  ear  such  a  peal  of  ter- 
ror as  might  awaken  thee,  and  be  too  loud  to  be 
drowned  in  all  the  noise  of  carnal  mirth,  or  to  be 
deadened  by  those  dangerous  opiates   with  which 
thou  art  contriving  to  stupify  thy  conscience  ! 

9.  Seek  what  amusements  and  entertainments  thou 
wilt,  O  sinner  !  I  tell  thee,  if  thou  wert  equal  in  dig- 
nity, and  power,  and  magnificence,  to  the  "  great 
monarch  of  Babylon,  thy  pomp  shall  be  brought 
.down  to  the  grave,  and  all  the  sound  of  thy  viols; 
the  worm  shall  be  spread  under  thee,  and  the  worm 
shall  cover  thee;"  (Isai.  14  :  11.)  yes,  sinner,  "the 
(end  of  these  things  is  death  !"  (Rom.  6:21.)  death 
•in  its  most  terrible  sense  to  thee,  if  this  continue  thy 
governing  temper.     Thou  canst  not  avoid  it ;  and,  if 


156  sinner's  death. 

it  be  possible  for  any  thing  that  I  can  say  to  pre 
vent,  thou  shalt  not  forget  it.  Your  "  strength  is  not 
the  strength  of  stones,  nor  is  your  flesh  of  brassv" 
Job,  6  :  12.  You  are  accessible  to  disease,  as  well 
as  others;  and  if  some  sudden  accident  do  not  pre- 
vent it,  we  shall  soon  see  how  heroically  you  will 
behave  yourself  on  a  dying  bed,  and  in  the  near 
views  of  eternity.  You,  that  now  despise  Christ, 
and  trifle  with  his  Gospel,  we  shall  see  you  droop 
and  languish ;  shall  see  all  your  relish  for  your  car- 
nal recreations  and  your  vain  companions  lost.  And 
if  perhaps  one  and  another  of  them  bolt  in  upon  you, 
and  is  brutish  and  desperate  enough  to  attempt  to 
entertain  a  dying  man  with  a  gay  story,  or  a  profane 
jest,  we  shall  see  how  you  will  relish  it.  We  shall 
see  wThat  comfort  you  will  have  in  reflecting  on  what 
is  past,  or  what  hope  in  looking  forward  to  what  is 
to  come.  Perhaps,  trembling  and  astonished,  you 
will  then  be  inquiring,  in  a  wild  kind  of  consterna- 
tion, "  what  you  shall  do  to  be  saved :"  calling  for 
the  ministers  of  Christ,  whom  you  now  despise  for 
the  earnestness  with  which  they  would  labor  to  save 
your  soul !  and  it  maybe  falling  into  a  delirium,  or 
dying'convulsions,  before  they  can  come.  Or  per- 
haps we  may  see  you  flattering  yourself,  through  a 
long,  lingering  illness,  that  you  shall  still  recover, 
and  putting  off  any  serious  reflection  and  conversa- 
tion, for  fear  it  should  overset  your  spirits.  And  the 
cruel  kindness  of  friends  and  physicians,  as  if  they 


SINNER    IN    THE    JUDGMENT.  157 

were  in  league  with  Satan  to  make  the  destruction  of 
your  soul  as  sure  as  possible,  may  perhaps  abet  this 
fatal  deceit.  I -! 

10.  And  if  any  of  these  probable  cases  happen, 
that  is,  in  short,  unless  a  miracle  of  grace  snatch  you 
V  as  a  brand  out  of  the  burning-,"  when  the  flames 
have,  as  it  were,  already  taken  hold  of  you ;  all 
these  gloomy  circumstances,  which  pass  in  the 
chambers  of  illness  and  on  the  bed  of  death,  are  but 
the  forerunners  of  infinitely  more  dreadful  things. 
Oh  !  who  can  describe  them  %  Who  can  imagine 
them  %  When  surviving  friends  are  tenderly  mourn- 
ing over  the  breathless  corpse>  and  taking  a  fond 
farewell  of  it  before  it  is  laid  to  consume  away  in 
the  dark  and  silent  grave,  into  what  hands,  O  sin- 
ner !  will  thy  soul  be  fallen  1  What  scenes  will 
open  upon  thy  separate  spirit,  even  before  thy  de- 
serted flesh  be  cold,  or  thy  sightless  eyes  are  closed  ? 
It  shall  then  know  what  it  is  to  return  to  God,  to  be 
rejected  by  him  as  having  rejected  his  Gospel  and 
his  Son,  and  despised  the  only  treaty  of  reconcilia- 
tion ;  and  that  so  amazingly  condescending  and  gra- 
cious !  Thou  shalt  know  what  it  is  to  be  disowned 
by  Christ,  whom  thou  hast  refused  to  entertain ;  and 
what  it  is,  as  the  certain  and  immediate  consequence 
of  that,  to  be  left  in  the  hands  of  the  malignant  spirits 
of  hell.  There  will  be  no  more  friendship  then : 
none  to  comfort,  none  to  alleviate  thy  agony  and  dis- 
tress ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  all  around  thee  laboring 
14 


158  SINNER    IN    THE    JUDGMENT. 

to  aggravate  and  increase  them.  Thou  shalt  pass 
away  the  intermediate  years  of  the  separate  state  in 
dreadful  expectation,  and  bitter  outcries  of  horror  and 
remorse.  And  then  thou  shalt  hear  the  trumpet  of 
the  archangel,  in  whatever  cavern  of  that  gloomy 
world  thou  art  lodged.  Its  sound  shall  penetrate 
thy  prison,  where,  doleful  and  horrible  as  it  is,  thou 
shalt  nevertheless  wish  that  thou  mightest  still  be 
allowed  to  hide  thy  guilty  head,  rather  than  show  it 
before  the  face  of  that  awful  Judge,  before  whom 
"  heaven  and  earth  are  fleeing  away."  Rev.  20  :  11. 
But  thou  must  come  forth,  and  be  re-united  to  a  body 
now  formed  for  ever  to  endure  agonies,  which  in 
this  mortal  state  would  have  dissolved  it  in  a  mo- 
ment. You  would  not  be  persuaded  to  come  to 
Christ  before :  you  would  stupidly  neglect  him,  in 
spite  of  reason,  in  spite  of  conscience,  in  spite  of  all 
the  tender  solicitations  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  re- 
peated admonitions  of  its  most  faithful  ministers. 
But  now,  sinner,  you  shall  have  an  interview  with 
him;  if  that  may  be  called  an  interview,  in  which 
you  will. not  dare  to  lift  up  your  head  to  view  the 
face  of  your  tremendous  and  inexorable  Judge. 
There,  at  least,  how  distant  soever  the  time  of  our 
life  and  the  place  of  our  abode  may  have  been,  there 
shall  we  see  how  courageously  your  heart  will  en- 
dure, and  how  "  strong  your  hands  will  be  when  the 
Lord  doth  this."  Ezek.  22:  14.  There  shall  1 
see  thee,  O  reader  !  whoever  thou  art  that  goest  on 


SINNER    AN    OBJECT    OF    PRAYER.  159 

in  thine  impenitency,  among  thousands  and  ten 
thousands  of  despairing  wretches,  trembling  and 
confounded.  There  shall  I  hear  thy  cries  among 
the  rest,  rending  the  very  heavens  in  vain.  The 
Judge  will  rise  from  his  throne  with  majestic  com- 
posure, and  leave  thee  to  be  hurried  down  to  those 
everlasting  burnings,  to  which  his  righteous  ven- 
geance hath  doomed  thee,  because  thou  wouldst  not 
be  saved  from  them.  Hell  shall  shut  its  mouth  upon 
thee  for  ever,  and  the  sad  echo  of  thy  groans  and 
outcries  shall  be  lost,  amidst  the  hallelujahs  of  hea- 
ven, to  all  that  find  mercy  of  the  Lord  in  that  day. 
11.  This  will  most  assuredly  be  the  end  of  these 
things ;  and  thou,  as  a  nominal  Christian,  profess- 
est  to  know,  and  to  believe  it.  It  moves  my  heart  at 
least,  if  it  moves  not  thine.  I  firmly  believe,  that 
every  one,  who  himself  obtains  salvation  and  glory, 
will  bear  so  much  of  his  Savior's  image  in  wisdom 
and  goodness,  in  zeal  for  God,  and  a  steady  regard 
to  the  happiness  of  the  whole  creation,  that  he  will 
I  behold  this  sad  scene  with  calm  approbation,  and 
without  any  painful  commotion  of  mind.  But  as  yet 
I  am  flesh  and  blood ;  and  therefore  my  bowels  are 
troubled,  and  mine  eyes  often  overflow  with  grief,  to 
think  that  wretched  sinners  will  have  no  more  com- 
passion upon  their  own  souls  ;  to  think,  that,  in  spite 
of  all  admonition,  they  will  obstinately  run  upon 
final,  everlasting  destruction.  It  would  signify  no- 
thing here  to  add  a  prayer  or  a  meditation  for  your 


160  PRAYER    FOR    AN 

use.  Poor  creature,  you  will  not  meditate  !  you  will 
not  pray !  Yet  as  I  have  often  poured  out  my  heart 
in  prayer  over  a  dying  friend,  when  the  force  of  his 
distemper  has  rendered  him  incapable  of  joining  with 
me,  so  I  will  now  apply  myself  to  God  for  you,  O 
unhappy  creature !  And  if  you  disdain  so  much  as 
to  read  what  my  compassion  dictates,  yet  I  hope, 
they  who  have  felt  the  power  of  the  Gospel  on  their 
own  souls,  as  they  cannot  but  pity  such  as  you,  will 
join  with  me  in  such  cordial,  though  broken  peti- 
tions as  these : 


A  prayer  in  behalf  of  an  Impenitent  Sinner,  in  t/ie  case  just 
described. 

"  Almighty  God  !  '  with  thee  all  things  are  possi- 
ble.' Matt.  19  :  26.  To  thee  therefore  do  I  humbly 
apply  myself  in  behalf  of  this  dear  immortal  soul, 
which  thou  here  seest  perishing  in  its  sins,  and  hard- 
ening itself  against  that  everlasting  Gospel  which 
has  been  the  power  of  God  to  the  salvation  of  so 
many  thousands  and  millions.  Thou  art  witness,  O 
blessed  God  !  thou  art  witness  to  the  plainness  and 
seriousness  with  which  the  message  has  been  deli- 
vered. It  is  in  thy  presence  that  these  awful  words 
have  been  written :  and  in  thy  presence  have  they 
been  read.  Be  pleased,  therefore,  to  record  it  in  the 
book  of  thy  remembrance,  that  '  so,  if  this  wicked 
man  dieth  in  his  iniquity,  after  the  warning  has  been 


MPENITENT    SINNER.  161 

so  plainly  and  solemnly  given  him,  his  blood  may 
not  be  required  at  my  hand,'  (Ezek.  33  :  8,  9,)  nor 
at  the  hand  of  that  Christian  friend,  whoever  he  is, 
by  whom  this  book  has  been  procured  for  him,  with 
a  sincere  desire  for  the  salvation  of  his  soul.  Be  wit- 
ness, 0  blessed  'Jesus,  in  the  day  in  which  thou 
shalt  judge  the  secrets  of  all  hearts,'  (Rom.  2  :  16,) 
that  thy  Gospel  hath  been  preached  to  this  hardened 
wretch,  and  salvation  by  thy  blood  hath  been  offer- 
ed him,  though  he  continued  to  despise  it.  And  may 
thy  unworthy  messenger  be  '  unto  God  a  sweet  savor 
in  Christ,'  in  this  very  soul,  even  though  it  should 
at  last  perish!   2  Cor.  2  :  15. 

"  But,  oh  !  that  after  all  his  hardness  and  impeni- 
tence, thou  wouldst  still  be  pleased,  by  the  sovereign 
power  of  thine  efficacious  grace,  to  awaken  and  con- 
vert him !  Well  do  we  know,  O  thou  Lord  of  uni- 
versal nature  !  that  he  who  made  the  soul  can  cause 
the  sword  of  conviction  to  come  near  and  enter  into 
it.  O  that,  in  thine  infinite  wisdom  and  love,  thou 
wouldst  find  out  a  way  to  interpose,  and  save  this 
sinner  from  death,  from  eternal  death !  0  that,  if  it 
be  thy  blessed  will,  thou  wouldst  immediately  do  it ! 
Thou  knowest,  0  God,  he  is  a  dying  creature !  thou 
knowest  that  if  any  thing  be  done  for  him,  it  must 
be  done  quickly  !  thou  seest,  in  the  book  of  thy  wise 
and  gracious  decrees,  a  moment  marked,  which 
must  seal  him  up  in  an  unchangeable  state !  0  that 
thou  wouldst  lay  hold  on  him  while  he  is  yet  'join- 


162  PRAYER    FOR    AN 

ed  to  the  living,  and  hath  hope !'  Eccles.  9  :  4.  Thy 
immutable  laws,  in  the  dispensation  of  grace,  forbid 
that  a  soul  should  be  converted  and  renewed  after  its 
entrance  into  the  invisible  world :  O  let  thy  sacred 
Spirit  work  while  he  is  yet  as  it  were  within  the 
sphere  of  its  operations !  Work,  O  God,  by  whatever 
method  thou  pleasest ;  only  have  mercy  upon  him  !  O 
Lord  !  have  mercy  upon  him,  that  he  sink  not  into 
these  depths  of  damnation  and  ruin,  on  the  very  brink 
of  which  he  so  evidently  appears !  0  that  thou  wouldst 
bring  him,  if  that  be  necessary,  and  seem  to  thee 
most  expedient,  intc  any  depths  of  calamity  and  dis- 
tress !  O  that,  with  Manasseh,  he  may  be  '  taken  in 
the  thorns,  and  laden  with  the  fetters  of  affliction,' 
if  that  may  but  cause  him  to  '  seek  the  God  of  his 
fathers.'  2  Chron.  33:  11,  12. 

11  But  I  prescribe  not  to  thine  infinite  wisdom. 
Thou  hast  displayed  thy  power  in  glorious  and  as- 
tonishing instances  ;  which  I  thank  thee  that  I  have 
so  circumstantially  known,  and  by  the  knowledge 
of  them  have  been  fortified  against  the  rash  confi- 
dence of  those  who  weakly  and  arrogantly  pro- 
nounce that  to  be  impossible,  which  is  actually  done. 
Thou  hast,  I  know,  done  that,  by  a  single  thought 
in  retirement,  when  the  happy  man  reclaimed  by  it 
hath  been  far  from  means,  and  far  from  ordinances, 
which  neither  the  most  awful  admonitions,  nor  the 
most  tender  entreaties,  nor  the  most  terrible  afflic- 
tions, nor  the  most  wonderful  deliverances,  had  been 
able  to  effect. 


IMPENITENT    SINNER.  163 

"  Glorify  thy  name,  O  Lord,  and  glorify  thy  grace, 
in  the  method  which  to  thine  infinite  wisdom  shall 
seem  most  expedient !  Only  grant,  I  beseech  thee, 
with  all  humble  submission  to  thy  will,  that  this  sin- 
ner may  be  saved !    or  if  not,  that  the  labor  of  this 

|  part  of  this  treatise  may  not  be  altogether  in  vain ; 
but  that  if  some  reject  it  to  their  aggravated  ruin, 
others  may  hearken  and  live !  That  those  thy  ser- 
vants, who  have  labored  for  their  deliverance  and 

|  happiness,  may  view  them  in  the  regions  of  glory, 
as  the  spoils  which  thou  hast  honored  them  as  the  in- 
struments of  recovering;  and  may  join  with  them  in 
the  hallelujahs  of  heaven,  •  to  him  who  hath  loved  us, 
and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood,  and 
hath  made  us,'  of  condemned  rebels,  and  accursed} 
polluted  sinners, « kings  and  priests  unto  God  ;  to  him 
be  glory  and  dominion  for  ever  and  ever  !'  Rev.  1 : 
5,  6.  Amen." 


164  THE    DEJECTED    SOUL. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


AN  ADDRESS  TO  A  SOUL  SO  OVERWHELMED  WITH  A  SENSE  OP  THE 
GREATNESS  OF  ITS  SINS,  THAT  IT  DARES  NOT  APPLY  ITSELF  TO 
CHRIST  WITH  ANY  HOPE  OF  SALVATION. 

1 — i.  The  case  described  at  large. — 5.  As  it  frequently  occurs. 
— 6.  Granting  all  that  the  dejected  soul  charges  on  itself. — 
7.  The  invitations  and  promises  of  Christ  give  hope. — 8. 
The  reader  urged,  under  all  his  burdens  and  fears,  to  an 
humble  application  to  him.  Which  is  accordingly  exempli- 
fied in  the  concluding  Reflection  and  Prayer. 

1.  I  have  now  done  with  those  unhappy  crea- 
tures who  despise  the  Gospel,  and  with  those  who 
neglect  it.  With  pleasure  do  I  now  turn  myself  to 
those  who  will  hear  me  with  more  regard.  Among 
the  various  cases  which  now  present  themselves  to 
my  thoughts,  and  demand  my  tender,  affectionate, 
respectful  care,  there  is  none  more  worthy  of  com- 
passion than  that  which  I  have  mentioned  in  the 
title  of  this  chapter,  none  which  requires  a  more  im- 
mediate attempt  of  relief. 

2.  It  is  very  possible  some  afflicted  creature  may 
be  ready  to  cry  out,  "  It  is  enough :  aggravate  my 
grief  and  my  distress  no  more.  The  sentence  you 
have  been  so  awfully  describing,  as  what  shall  be 
passed  and  executed  on  the  impenitent  and  unbe- 


THE    DEJECTED    SOUL.  165 

I  lieving,  is  my  sentence ;  and  the  terrors  of  it  are  my 
terrors.  '  For  mine  iniquities  have  gone  up  into 
the  heavens,'  and  my  transgressions  have  reached 
unto  the  clouds.  Rev.  18:5.  My  case  is  quite  sin- 
gular. Surely  there  never  was  so  great  a  sinner 
as  I.  I  have  received  so  many  mercies,  have  en- 
joyed so  many  advantages,  I  have  heard  so  many 
invitations  of  Gospel  grace;  and  yet  my  heart  has 
been  so  hard,  and  my  nature  is  so  exceeding  sinful, 
and  the  number  and  aggravating  circumstances  of 
my  provocations  have  been  such,  that  I  dare  not 
hope.  It  is  enough  that  God  hath  supported  me  thus 
long  ;  it  is  enough,  that,  after  so  many  years  of  wick- 
edness, I  am  yet  out  of  hell.  Every  day's  reprieve 
is  a  mercy  at  which  I  am  astonished.  I  lie  down, 
and  wonder  that  death  and  damnation  have  not 
seized  me  in  my  walks  the  day  past.  I  arise,  and 
wonder  that  my  bed  has  not  been  my  grave ;  wonder 
that  my  soul  is  not  separated  from  my  flesh,  and 
surrounded  with  devils  and  damned  spirits." 

3.  "  I  have  indeed  heard  the  message  of  salvation ; 
but,  alas !  it  seems  no  message  of  salvation  to  me. 
There  are  happy  souls  that  have  hope ;  and  their 
hope  is  indeed  in  Christ  and  the  grace  of  God  mani- 
fest in  him.  But  they  feel  in  their  hearts  an  en- 
couragement to  apply  to  him,  whereas  I  dare  not  do 
it.  Christ  and  grace  are  things  in  which  I  fear  I 
have  no  part,  and  must  expect  none.  There  are  ex- 
ceeding rich  and  precious  promises  in  the  word  of 


166  THE    DEJECTED    SOUL. 

God  ;  but  they  are  to  me  as  a  sealed  book,  and  are 
hid  from  me  as  to  any  personal  use.  I  know  Christ 
is  able  to  save :  I  know  he  is  willing  to  save  some. 
But  that  he  should  be  willing  to  save  me — such  a 
polluted,  such  a  provoking  creature,  as  God  knows, 
and  as  conscience  knoAvs,  I  have  been,  and  to  this 
day  am — this  I  know  not  how  to  believe ;  and  the 
utmost  that  I  can  do  towards  believing  it,  is  to  ac- 
knowledge that  it  is  not  absolutely  impossible,  and 
that  I  do  not  lie  down  in  complete  despair  ;  though, 
alas  !  I  seem  upon  the  borders  of  it,  and  expect  every 
day  and  hour  to  fall  into  it." 

4.  I  should  not,  perhaps,  have  entered  so  fully 
into  this  case,  if  I  had  not  seen  many  in  it ;  and  I 
will  aad,  reader,  for  your  encouragement,  if  it  be 
your  case,  several,  who  now  are  in  the  number  of 
the  most  established,  cheerful,  and  useful  Christians. 
And  I  hope  divine  grace  will  add  you  to  the  rest, 
if  "  out  of  these  depths  you  be  enabled  to  cry  unto 
God;"  (Psalm  130:  1.)  and  though,  like  Jonah, 
you  may  seem  to  be  cast  out  from  his  presence,  yet 
still,  with  Jonah,  you  "  look  towards  his  holy  tem- 
ple." Jonah,  2:  4. 

5.  Let  it  not  be  imagined,  that  it  is  in  any  neglect 
of  that  blessed  Spirit,  whose  office  it  is  to  be  the 
great  Comforter,  that  I  now  attempt  to  reason  you 
out  of  this  disconsolate  frame ;  for  it  is  as  the  great 
source  of  reason,  that  he  deals  with  rational  crea- 
tures :  and  it  is  in  the  use  of  rational  means  and 


THE    DEJECTED    SOUL.  167 

considerations  that  he  may  most  justly  be  expected 
to  operate.  Give  me  leave,  therefore,  to  address 
myself  calmly  to  you,  and  to  ask  you,  what  reason 
you  have  for  all  these  passionate  complaints  and  ac- 
cusations against  yourself?  What  reason  have  you 
to  suggest  that  your  case  is  singular,  when  so  many 
ptve  told  you  they  have  felt  the  same?  What 
reason  have  you  to  conclude  so  hardly  against  your- 
self, when  the  Gospel  speaks  in  such  favorable 
terms  ?  Or,  what  reason  to  imagine,  that  the  gracious 
things  it  says  are  not  intended  for  you  ?  You  know, 
indeed,  more  of  the  corruption  of  your  own  heart, 
than  you  know  of  the  hearts  of  others ;  and  you 
make  a  thousand  charitable  excuses  for  their  visible 
[failings  and  infirmities,  which  you  make  not  for 
your  own.  And  it  may  be,  some  of  those  whom 
'you  admire  as  eminent  saints  when  compared  with 
jyou,  are  on  their  part  humbling  themselves  in  the 
dust,  as  unworthy  to  be  numbered  among  the  least 
m  God's  people,  and  wishing  themselves  like  you, 
i|in  whom  they  think  they  see  much  more  good,  and 
much  less  of  evil,  than  in  themselves. 

6.  But  to  suppose  the  worst,  what  if  you  were 
!  really  the  vilest  sinner  that  ever  lived  upon  the  face 
i  of  the  earth  ?  What  if  "  your  iniquities  had  gone  up 
|  into  the  heavens  "  every  day,  and  "  your  transgres- 
sions had  reached  unto  the  clouds,"  (Rev.  18:5.) 
!  reached  thither  with  such  horrid  aggravations,  that 
earth  and  heaven  should  have  had  reason  to  detest 


168  INVITATION    TO    CHRIST. 

you  as  a  monster  of  impiety  %  Admitting  all  this, 
"  is  any  thing  too  hard  for  the  Lord  1"  Gen.  18  :  14. 
Are  any  sins,  of  which  a  sinner  can  repent,  of  so 
deep  a  dye,  that  the  blood  of  Christ  cannot  wash 
them  away  ?  Nay,  though  it  would  be  daring  wick- 
edness and  monstrous  folly,  for  any  "  to  sin  that 
grace  may  abound,"  (Rom.  6  :  1.)  yet  had  you  in- 
deed raised  your  account  beyond  all  that  divine 
grace  has  ever  yet  pardoned,  who  should  "limit 
the  holy  One  of  Israel?"  (Psalm  78:  41.)  or 
who  shall  pretend  to  say,  that  it  is  impossible  that 
God  may,  for  your  very  wretchedness,  choose  you 
out  from  others,  to  make  you  a  monument  of  mercy, 
and  a  trophy  of  hitherto  unparalleled  grace  ?  The 
apostle  Paul  strongly  intimates  this  to  have  been  the 
case  with  regard  to  himself;  and  why  might  not 
you  likewise,  if  indeed  "  the  chief  of  sinners,"  ob- 
tain mercy,  that  in  you,  as  the  chief,  "  Jesus  Christ 
might  show  forth  all  long-suffering,  for  a  pattern  to 
them  who  shall  hereafter  believe  ?"  1  Tim.  1 :  15,  16. 
7.  Gloomy  as  your  apprehensions  are,  I  would  ask 
you  plainly,  do  you  in  your  conscience  think  that 
Christ  is  not  able  to  save  you?  What!  is  he  not 
"  able  to  save,  even  to  the  uttermost,  them  that  come 
unto  God  by  him?"  Heb.  7  :  25.  Yes,  you  will  say, 
abundantly  able  to  do  it ;  but  I  dare  not  imagine  that 
he  will  do  it.  And  how  do  you  know  that  he  will 
not  ?  He  has  helped  the  very  greatest  sinners  of  all 
that  have  yet  applied  themselves  to  him ;  and  he  has 


INVITATION    TO    CHRIST.  169 

made  thee  offers  of  grace  and  salvation  in  the  most 
engaging  and  encouraging   terms.     "If  any  man 
thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me  and  drink:"  (John,  7  : 
37.)  "let  him  that  is  a-thirst  come;  and  whosoever 
will,  let  him  take  of  the  water  of  life  freely."  Rev. 
22 :  17.    "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  Matt.  1 1  :  28. 
And  once  more,  "  Him  that  cometh  unto  me,  I  will 
in  no  wise  cast  out."  John,  6  :  37.  "  True,"  will  you 
say,  "none  that  are  given  him  by  the  Father:  could 
I  know  I  were  of  that  number,  I  could  then  apply 
cheerfully  to  him."    But,  dear  reader,  let  me  entreat 
you  to  look  into  the  text  itself,  and  see  whether  that 
limitation  be  expressly  added  there.    Do  you  there 
read,  none  of  them  whom  the  Father  hath  given  me 
shall  be  cast  out?  The  words  are  in  a  much  more 
encouraging  form;  and  why  should  you  frustrate 
his  wisdom  and  goodness  by  such  an  addition  of  your 
own  1  "  Add  not  to  his  words,  lest  he  reprove  thee  •" 
(Prov.  30 :  6.)  take  them  as  they  stand,  and  drink  in 
the  consolation  of  them.    Our  Lord  knew  into  what 
perplexity  some  serious  minds  might  possibly  be 
thrown  by  what  he  had  before  been  saying,  "  All 
that  the  Father  hath  given  me  shall  come  unto  me  •" 
and  therefore,  as  it  were  on  purpose  to  balance  it,  he 
add?  those  gracious  words,  "  him  that  cometh  unto 
me  I  will  in  no  wise,"  by  no  means,  on  no  conside- 
ration whatsoever,  "  cast  out." 

8.  If,  therefore,  you  are  already  discouraged  and 
15 


170  INVITATION    TO    CHRIST, 

terrified  at  the  greatness  of  your  sins,  do  not  add  to 
their  weight  and  number  that  one  greater,  and  worse 
than  all  the  rest,  a  distrust  of  the  faithfulness  and 
grace  of  the  blessed  Redeemer.  Do  not,  so  far  as  in 
you  lies,  oppose  all  the  purposes  of  his  love  to  you. 
O  distressed  soul !  whom  dost  thou  dread  ?  To  whom 
dost  thou  tremble  to  approach  ?  Is  there  any  thing  so 
terrible  in  a  crucified  Redeemer,  in  the  Lamb  that 
was  slain  ?  If  thou  earnest  thy  soul,  almost  sinking 
under  the  burden  of  its  guilt,  to  lay  it  down  at  his 
feet,  what  dost  thou  offer  him,  but  the  spoil  which  he 
bled  and  died  to  recover  and  possess  ?  And  did  he 
purchase  it  so  dearly,  that  he  might  reject  it  with 
disdain  ?  Go  to  him  directly,  and  fall  down  in  his 
presence,  and  plead  that  misery  of  thine,  which  thou 
hast  now  been  pleading  in  a  contrary  view,  as  an 
engagement  to  your  own  soul  to  make  the  applica- 
tion, and  as  an  argument  with  the  compassionate 
Savior  to  receive  you.  Go,  and  be  assured,  that 
M  where  sin  hath  abounded,  there  grace  shall  much 
more  abound."  Rom.  5  :  20.  Be  assured,  that,  if  one 
sinner  can  promise  himself  a  more  certain  welcome 
than  another,  it  is  not  he  that  is  least  guilty  and 
miserable,  but  he  that  is  most  deeply  humbled  before 
God  under  a  sense  of  that  misery  and  guilt,  and  lies 
the  lowest  in  the  apprehension  of  it. 

Reflections  on  these  Encouragements,  ending  in  an  humble  and 
earnest  Application  to  Christ  for  Mercy. 

"  O  my  soul !   what  sayest  thou  to  these  things  1 


APPLYING    TO    CHRIST    FOR    MERCY.  171 

Is  there  not  at  least  a  possibility  of  help  from  Christ? 
And  is  there  a  possibility  of  help  any  other  way  ? 
Is  any  other  name  given  under  heaven,  whereby  we 
can  be  saved  1  I  know  there  is  none.  Acts,  4 :  12. 
I  must  then  say,  like  the  lepers  of  Israel,  (2  Kings, 
7:4,)  '  If  I  sit  here,  I  perish  ;  and  if  I  make  my 
application  in  vain,  I  can  but  die.'  But  peradventure 
he  may  save  my  soul  alive.  I  will  therefore  arise, 
and  go  unto  him  ;  or  rather,  believing  him  here,  by 
his  spiritual  presence,  sinful  and  miserable  as  I  am, 
I  will  this  moment  fall  down  on  my  face  before  him, 
and  pour  out  my  soul  unto  him. 

"  Blessed  Jesus,  I  present  myself  unto  thee,  as  a 
wretched  creature,  driven  indeed  by  necessity  to  do 
it.  For  surely,  were  not  that  necessity  urgent  and 
absolute,  I  should  not  dare,  for  very  shame,  to  appear 
in  thine  holy  and  majestic  presence.  I  am  fully  con- 
vinced that  my  sins  and  my  follies  have  been  inex- 
cusably great,  more  than  I  can  express,  more  than  I 
can  conceive.  I  feel  a  source  of  sin  in  my  corrupt 
and  degenerate  nature,  which  pours  out  iniquity  as 
a  fountain  sends  out  its  water,  and  makes  me  a  bur- 
den and  a  terror  to  myself.  Such  aggravations  have 
attended  my  transgressions,  that  it  looks  like  pre- 
sumption so  much  as  to  ask  pardon  for  them.  And 
yet,  would  it  not  be  greater  presumption  to  say,  that 
they  exceed  thy  mercy,  and  the  efficacy  of  thy  blood  ; 
to  say,  that  thou  hast  power  and  grace  enough  to 
pardon  and  save  only  sinners  of  a  lower  order,  while 


172  APPLYING    TO    CHRIST    FOR    MERCY. 

such  as  I  lie  out  of  thy  reach  ?  Preserve  me  from 
that  blasphemous  imagination  !  Preserve  me  from 
that  unreasonable  suspicion  !  Lord,  thou  canst  do  all 
things,  neither  is  there  any  thought  of  mine  heart 
withholden  from  thee.  Job,  42  :  2.  Thou  art  indeed, 
as  thy  word  declares,  able  to  save  unto  the  uttermost. 
Heb.  7 :  25.  And  therefore,  breaking  through  all 
the  oppositions  of  shame  and  fear  that  would  keep 
me  from  thee,  I  come  and  lie  down  as  in  the  dust  be- 
fore thee.  Thou  knowest,  O  Lord !  all  my  sins,  and 
all  my  follies.  Psalm  69  :  5.  I  cannot,  and  I  hope 
I  may  say,  I  would  not  disguise  them  before  thee, 
or  set  myself  to  find  out  plausible  excuses.  Accuse 
me,  Lord,  as  thou  pleasest ;  and  I  will  ingenuously 
plead  guilty  to  all  thine  accusations.  I  will  own 
myself  as  great  a  sinner  as  thou  callest  me ;  but  I 
am  still  a  sinner  that  comes  unto  thee  for  pardon.  If 
I  must  die,  it  shall  be  submitting,  and  owning  the 
justice  of  the  fatal  stroke.  If  I  perish,  it  shall  be  lay- 
ing hold,  as  it  were,  on  the  horns  of  the  altar:  lay- 
ing myself  down  at  thy  foot-stool,  though  I  have 
been  such  a  rebel  against  thy  throne.  Many  have 
received  a  full  pardon  there ;  have  met  with  favor 
even  beyond  their  hopes.  And  are  all  thy  compas- 
sions, O  blessed  Jesus  !  exhausted  ?  And  wilt  thou 
now  begin  to  reject  an  humble  creature  who  flies  to 
thee  for  life,  and  pleads  nothing  but  mercy  and  free 
grace  ?  Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  most  gracious  Re- 
deemer !  have  mercy  upon  me,  and  let  my  life  be 


APPLYING    TO    CHRIST    FOR    MERCY.  173 

precious  in  thy  sight !  2  Kings,  1 :  14.  O  do  not  re- 
solve to  send  me  down  to  that  state  of  final  misery 
and  despair  from  which  it  was  thy  gracious  purpose 
to  deliver  and  save  so  many  ! 

"  Spurn  me  not  away,  O  Lord !  from  thy  presence, 
nor  be  offended  when  I  presume  to  lay  hold  on  thy 
royal  robe,  and  say  that  I  cannot  and  will  not  let 
thee  go  till  my  suit  is  granted  !  Gen.  32  :  26.  Oh  1 
remember  that  my  eternity  is  at  stake  !  Remember, 
O  Lord,  that  all  my  hopes  of  obtaining  eternal  hap- 
piness, and  avoiding  everlasting,  helpless,  hopeless 
destruction,  are  anchored  upon  thee  ;  they  hang  upon 
thy  smiles,  or  drop  at  thy  frown.  O  have  mercy  up- 
on me,  for  the  sake  of  this  immortal  soul  of  mine ! 
Or  if  not  for  the  sake  of  mine  alone,  for  the  sake  of 
many  others,  who  may,  on  the  one  hand,  be  en- 
couraged by  thy  mercy  to  me,  or,  on  the  other,  may 
be  greatly  wounded  and  discouraged  by  my  helpless 
despair  !  I  beseech  thee,  O  Lord,  for  thine  own  sake, 
and  for  the  display  of  thy  Father's  rich  and  sovereign 
grace  !  I  beseech  thee  by  the  blood  thou  didst  shed 
on  the  cross  !  I  beseech  thee  by  the  covenant  of  grace 
and  peace,  into  which  the  Father  did  enter  with  thee 
for  the  salvation  of  believing  and  repenting  sinners ! 
save  me,  save  me,  O  Lord,  who  earnestly  desire  to 
repent  and  believe  !  I  am  indeed  a  sinner,  in  whose 
final  and  everlasting  destruction  thy  justice  might  be 
greatly  glorified  ;  but  oh  !  if  thou  wilt  pardon  me,  it 
will  be  a  monument  raised  to  the  honor  of  thy  grace, 
15* 


174  DOUBTING    SOUL    ASSISTED. 

and  the  efficacy  of  thy  blood,  in  proportion  to  the 
degree  in  which  the  wretch,  to  whom  thy  mercy  is 
extended,  was  mean  and  miserable  without  it.  Speak, 
Lord,  by  thy  blessed  Spirit,  and  banish  my  fears ! 
Look  unto  me  with  love  and  grace  in  thy  counte- 
nance, and  say  to  me,  as  in  the  days  of  thy  flesh  thou 
didst  to  many  an  humble  supplicant,  '  Thy  sins  are 
forgiven  thee,  go  in  peace.'  " 


CHAPTER    XIII. 


THE  DOUBTING  SOUL  MORE  PARTICULARLY  ASSISTED  IN  ITS  IN- 
QUIRIES AS  TO  THE  SINCERITY  OF  ITS  FAITH  AND  REPENT- 
ANCE. 

1.  Transient  impressions  liable  to  be  mistaken  for  conversion, 
•which  would  be  a  fatal  error.— -2.  General  scheme  for  self- 
examination. — 3.  Particular  inquiries— what  views  there 
have  been  of  sin  ?— 4.  What  views  there  have  been  of  Christ  ? 
5.  As  to  the  need  the  soul  has  of  him  ,—6.  And  its  willing- 
ness to  receive  him  with  a  due  surrender  of  heart  to  his  ser 
vice. — 7.  Nothing  short  of  this  sufficient.  The  soul  submit- 
ting to  Divine  examination  the  sincerity  of  its  faith  and  re- 
pentance. 

1.  In  consequence  of  all  the  serious  things  which 
have  been  said  in  the  former  chapters,  I  hope  it  will 


DOUBTING    SOUL    ASSISTED.  175 

be  no  false  presumption  to  imagine  that  some  reli- 
gious impressions  may  be  made  on  hearts  which  had 
never  felt  them  before ;  or  may  be  revived  where 
they  have  formerly  grown  cold  and  languid.  Yet  I 
am  very  sensible,  and  I  desire  that  you  may  be  so, 
how  great  danger  there  is  of  self-flattery  on  this  im- 
portant head,  and  how  necessary  it  is  to  caution  men 
against  too  hasty  a  conclusion  that  they  are  really 
converted,  because  they  have  felt  some  warm  emo- 
tions on  their  minds,  and  have  reformed  the  gross  ir- 
regularities of  their  former  conduct.  A  mistake  here 
may  be  infinitely  fatal  ;  it  n  ay  prove  the  occasion  of 
that  fake  peace  which  shall  ead  a  man  to  bless  him- 
self in  his  own  heart,  and  to  conclude  himself  secure, 
while  "  all  the  threatenings  and  curses  of  God's  law" 
are  sounding  in  his  ears,  at  d  lie  indeed  directly 
against  him  :  (Deut.  19  :  19,  20.)  while  in  the  mean 
time  he  applies  to  himself  a  thousand  promises  in 
which  he  has  no  share ;  which  may  prove  therefore 
like  generous  wine.s  to  a  man  in  a  high  fever,  or 
strong  opiates  to  one  in  a  lethargy.  "The  stony 
ground  hearers  received  the  word  with  joy,"  and  a 
promising  harvest  seemed  to  be  springing  up;  yet 
"it  soon  withered  away,"  (Matt.  13  :  5,  6,)  and  no 
reaper  filled  his  arms  with  it.  Now,  that  this  may 
not  be  the  case  with  you,  that  all  my  labors  and 
yours  hitherto  may  not  be  lost,  and  that  a  vain  dream 
of  security  and  happiness  may  not  plunge  you  deep- 
er in  misery  and  ruin,  give  me  leave  to  lead  you  into 


176  DOUBTING    SOUL    ASSISTED. 

a  serious  inquiry  into  your  own  heart,  that  so  you 
may  be  better  able  to  judge  of  your  case,  and  to  dis- 
tinguish between  what  is  at  most  being  only  near 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  becoming  indeed  a 
member  of  it. 

2.  Now  this  depends  upon  the  sincerity  of  your 
faith  in  Christ,  when  faith  is  taken  in  the  largest 
extent,  as  explained  above  :  that  is,  as  comprehend- 
ing repentance,  and  that  steady  purpose  of  new  and 
universal  obedience,  of  which,  wherever  it  is  real, 
faith  will  assuredly  be  the  vital  principle.  Therefore, 
to  assist  you  in  judging  of  your  state,  give  me  leave 
to  ask  you,  or  rather  to  entreat  you  to  ask  yourself, 
what  views  you  have  had,  and  now  have,  of  sin  and 
of  Christ  ?  and  what  your  future  purposes  are  with 
regard  to  your  conduct  in  the  remainder  of  life  that 
may  lie  before  you  ?  I  shall  not  reason  largely 
upon  the  several  particulars  I  suggest  under  these 
heads,  but  rather  refer  you  to  your  own  reading  and 
observation,  to  judge  how  agreeable  they  are  to  the 
word  of  God,  the  great  rule  by  which  our  characters 
must  quickly  be  tried,  and  our  eternal  state  unaltera- 
bly determined. 

3.  Inquire  seriously,  in  the  first  place,  "  what 
views  you  have  had  of  sin,  and  what  sentiments  you 
have  felt  in  your  soul  with  regard  to  it?  There 
was  a  time  when  it  wore  a  flattering  aspect,  and 
made  a  fair,  enchanting  appearance,  so  that  all  your 
heart  was  charmed  with  it,  and  it  was  the  verybusi- 


DOUBTING    SOUL    ASSISTED.  177 

ness  of  your  life  to  practice  it.  But  you  have  since 
been  undeceived.  You  have  felt  it  "  bite  like  a  ser- 
pent, and  sting  like  an  adder."  Prov.  23 :  32.  You 
have  beheld  it  with  an  abhorrence  far  greater  than 
the  delight  which  it  ever  gave  you.  So  far  it  is  well. 
It  is  thus  with  every  true  penitent,  and  with  some,  I 
fear,  who  are  not  of  that  number.  Let  me  therefore 
inquire  farther,  whence  arose  this  abhorrence  ?  Was 
it  merely  from  a  principle  of  self-love  ?  Was  it  mere- 
ly because  you  had  been  wounded  by  it  ?  Was  it 
merely  because  you  had  thereby  brought  condemna- 
tion and  ruin  upon  your  own  soul  ?  Was  there  no 
sense  of  its  deformity,  of  its  baseness,  of  its  maligni- 
ty, as  committed  against  the  blessed  God,  consider- 
ed as  a  glorious,  a  bountiful,  and  a  merciful  Being  ? 
Were  you  never  pierced  by  the  apprehension  of  its 
vile  ingratitude?  And  as  for  those  purposes  which 
have  arisen  in  your  heart  against  it,  let  me  beseech 
you  to  reflect  how  they  have  been  formed,  and  how 
they  have  hitherto  been  executed.  Have  they  been 
universal  ?  Have  they  been  resolute  ?  And  yet, 
amidst  all  that  resolution,  have  they  been  humble  ? 
When  you  have  declared  war  with  sin,  was  it  with 
every  sin  ?  And  is  it  an  irreconcilable  war  which 
you  determine,  by  divine  grace,  to  push  on  till  you 
have  entirely  conquered  it,  or  die  in  the  attempt? 
And  are  you  accordingly  active  in  your  endeavors 
to  subdue  and  destroy  it  ?  If  so,  what  are  "  the  fruits 
worthy  of  repentance  which  you  bring  forth  ?"  Luke, 


178  DOUBTING    SOUL    ASSISTED. 

3 :  8.  It  does  not,  I  hope,  all  flow  away  in  floods 
of  grief.  Have  you  "  ceased  to  do  evil  ?"  Are  you 
•'learning  to  do  well?"  Isa.  1  :  16,  17.  Doth  your 
reformation  show  that  you  repent  of  your  sins?  or 
do  your  renewed  relapses  into  sin  prove  that  you  re- 
pent even  of  what  you  call  your  repentance  ?  Have 
you  an  inward  abhorrence  of  all  sin,  and  an  unfeign- 
ed zeal  against  it  ?  And  doth  that  produce  a  care 
to  guard  against  the  occasions  of  it,  and  temptations 
to  it  ?  Do  you  watch  against  the  circumstances  that 
have  ensnared  you  ?  and  do  you  particularly  dou- 
ble your  guard  against  "  that  sin  which  does  most 
easily  beset  you  1"  Heb.  12:  1.  Is  that  laid  aside, 
that  the  Christian  race  may  be  run :  laid  aside  with 
firm  determination  that  you  will  return  to  it  no  more, 
that  you  hold  no  more  parley  with  it,  that  you  will 
never  take  another  step  toward  it  ? 

4.  Permit  me  also  farther  to  inquire,  "  what  your 
views  of  Christ  have  been  ?  What  think  you  of  him, 
and  your  concern  with  him  ?"  Have  you  been  fully 
convinced  that  there  must  be  a  correspondence  set- 
tled between  him  and  your  soul  %  And  do  you  see 
and  feel,  that  you  are  not  only  to  pay  him  a  kind  of 
distant  homage,  and  transient  compliment,  as  a  very 
wise,  benevolent,  and  excellent  person,  for  whose 
name  and  memory  you  have  a  reverence;  but  that, 
as  he  lives  and  reigns,  as  he  is  ever  near  you,  and 
always  observing  you,  so  you  must  look  to  him, 
must  approach  him,  must  humbly  transact  business 


DOUBTING    SOUL     ASSISTED.  179 

with  him,  and  that  business  of  the  highest  Import- 
ance, on  which  your  salvation  depends  ? 

5.  You  have  been  brought  to  inquire,  "  Where- 
with shall  I  come  before  the  Lord,  and  bow  myself 
before  the  most  high  God?  Mic.  6  :  6.  And  once 
perhaps  you  were  thinking  of  sacrifices  which  your 
own  stores  might  have  been  sufficient  to  furnish  out. 
Are  you  now  convinced  they  will  not  suffice  ;  and 
that  you  must  have  recourse  to  the  Lamb  which 
God  has  provided  ?  Have  you  had  a  view  of  "  Jesus 
as  taking  away  the  sin  of  the  world?"  (John,  1  :  29.) 
"  as  made  a  sin-offering  for  us,  though  he  knew  no 
sin,  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God 
in  him?"  2  Cor.  .5  :  21.  Have  you  viewed  him  as 
perfectly  righteous  in  himself;  and,  despairing  of 
being  justified  by  any  righteousness  of  your  own, 
have  you  "  submitted  to  the  righteousness  of  God  ?" 
Rom.  10:  3.  Has  your  heart  ever  been  brought  to 
a  deep  conviction  of  this  important  truth,  that  if  ever 
3'ou  are  saved  at  all,  it  must  be  througk  Christ;  that 
if  ever  God  extends  mercy  to  you  at  all,  it  must  be 
for  his  sake ;  that  if  ever  you  are  fixed  in  the  temple 
of  God  above,  you  must  stand  there  as  an  everlast- 
ing trophy  of  that  victory  which  Christ  has  gained 
over  the  powers  of  hell,  who  would  otherwise  have 
triumphed  over  you  ? 

6.  Our  Lord  says,  "  Look  unto  me,  and  be  ye 
saved."  Isaiah,  45  :  22.  He  says,  "  If  I  be  lifted  up, 
I  will  draw  all  men  unto  me."    John,  12  :  32.     Have 


180  DOUBTING    SOUL    ASSISTED* 

you  looked  to  him  as  the  only  Savior,  have  you 
been  drawn  unto  him  by  that  sacred  magnet,  the 
attracting  influence  of  his  dying  love?  Do  you 
know  what  it  is  to  come  to  Christ,  as  a  poor  "  weary 
and  heavy-laden  sinner,  that  you  may  find  rest  ?" 
Mat.  11:28.  Do  you  know  what  it  is,  in  a  spiritual 
sense,  "  to  eat  the  flesh  and  drink  the  blood  of  the 
Son  of  man ;"  (John,  6  :  53.)  that  is,  to  look  upon 
Christ  crucified  as  the  great  support  of  your  soul, 
and  to  feel  a  desire  after  him,  earnest  as  the  appetite 
of  nature  after  its  necessary  food  ?  Have  you  known 
what  it  is  cordially  to  surrender  yourself  to  Christ, 
as  a  poor  creature  whom  love  has  made  his  proper- 
ty? Have  you  committed  your  immortal  soul  to 
him,  that  he  may  purify  and  save  it ;  that  he  may 
govern  it  by  the  dictates  of  his  word  and  the  influ- 
ences of  his  Spirit ;  that  he  may  use  it  for  his  glory ; 
that  he  may  appoint  it  to  what  exercises  and  disci- 
pline he  pleases,  while  it  dwells  here  in  flesh ;  and 
that  he  may  receive  it  at  death,  and  fix  it  among 
those  spirits,  who  with  perpetual  songs  of  praise  sur- 
round his  throne,  and  are  his  servants  for  ever? 
Have  you  heartily  consented  to  this?  And  do  you, 
on  this  account  of  the  matter,  renew  your  consent? 
Do  you  renew  it  deliberately  and  determinately,  and 
feel  your  whole  soul,  as  it  were,  saying  Amen,  while 
you  "read  this  ?  If  this  be  the  case,  then  I  can,  with 
"great  pleasure,  give  you,  as  it  were,  the  right  hand 
of  fellowship,  and  salute  and  embrace  you  as  a  sin- 


DOUBTING     SOUL    ASSISTED.  181 

cere  disciple  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  as  one  who 
is  delivered  from  the  powers  of  darkness,  and  is 
"  translated  into  the  kingdom  of  the  Son  of  God." 
Col.  1:13.  I  can  then  salute  you  in  the  Lord,  as 
one  to  whom,  as  a  minister  of  Jesus,  I  am  commis- 
sioned and  charged  to  speak  comfortably,  and  tell  you, 
not  that  I  absolve  you  from  your  sins,  for  it  is  a  small 
matter  to  be  judged  of  man's  judgment,  but  that  the 
blessed  God  himself  absolveth  you :  that  you  are  one 
to  whom  he  hath  said  in  his  Gospel,  and  is  continually 
saying,  "  Your  sins  are  forgiven  you  ;"  (Luke,  7  : 
48.)  therefore  go  in  peace,  and  take  the  comfort  of  it. 
7.  But  if  you  are  a  stranger  to  these  experiences, 
and  to  this  temper  which  I  have  now  described,  the 
great  work  is  yet  undone :  you  are  an  impenitent 
and  unbelieving  sinner,  and  "the  wrath  of  God 
abideth  on  you."  John,  3  :  36.  However  you  may 
have  been  awakened  and  alarmed,  whatever  resolu- 
tions you  may  have  formed  for  amending  your  life, 
how  right  soever  your  notions  may  be,  how  pure  so- 
ever your  forms  of  worship,  how  ardent  soever  your 
zeal,  how  severe  soever  your  mortification,  how  hu- 
mane soever  your  temper,  how  inoffensive  soever 
your  life  may  be,  I  can  speak  no  comfort  to  you. 
Vain  are  all  your  religious  hopes,  if  there  has  not 
been  a  cordial  humiliation  before  the  presence  of 
God  for  all  your  sins;  if  there  has  not  been  this 
avowed  war  declared  against  every  thing  displeas- 
ing to  God;  if  there  has  not  been  this  sense  of  your 
16 


182  DOUBTING    SOUL    ASSISTED. 

need  of  Christ,  and  of  your  ruin  without  himj  if 
there  has  not  been  this  earnest  application  to  him, 
this  surrender  of  your  soul  into  his  hands  by  faith, 
this  renunciation  of  yourself,  that  you  might  fix  on 
him  the  anchor  of  your  hope  :  if  there  has  not  been 
this  unreserved  dedication  of  yourself,  to  be  at  all 
times,  and  in  all  respects,  the  faithful  servant  of  God 
through  him ;  and  if  you  do  not  with  all  this  ac- 
knowledge, that  you  are  an  unprofitable  servant, 
who  have  no  other  expectations  of  acceptance  or  of 
pardon  but  only  through  his  righteousness  and 
blood,  and  through  the  riches  of  divine  grace  in 
him ;  I  repeat  it  to  you  again,  that  all  your  hopes 
are  vain,  and  you  are  "  building  on  the  sand."  Matt. 
7  :  26.  The  house  you  have  already  raised  must  be 
thrown  down  to  the  ground,  and  the  foundation  be 
removed  and  laid  anew,  or  you,  and  all  your  hopes, 
will  shortly  be  swept  away  with  it,  and  buried  under 
it  in  everlasting  ruin. 

The  soul  submitting  to  Divine  Examination  the  Sincerity  of 
its  Repentance  and  Faith. 

"  O  Lord  God !  thou  searchest  all  hearts,  and  triest 
the  reins  of  the  children  of  men!  Jer.  17:  10. 
Search  me,  O  Lord,  and  know  my  heart ;  try  me, 
and  know  my  thoughts ;  and  see  if  there  be  any 
wicked  way  in  me,  and  lead  me  in  the  way  everlast- 
ing. Psalm  139  :  23,  24.  Doth  not  conscience, 
O  Lord !  testify  in  thy  presence,  that  my  repentance 


REPENTANCE    AND    FAITH.  1S3 

and  faith  are  such  as  have  been  described,  or  at  least 
that  it  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  they  may  be  so  ? 
Come,  therefore,  O  thou  blessed  Spirit !  who  art  the 
author  of  all  grace  and  consolation,  and  work  this 
temper  more  fully  in  my  soul.  O  represent  sin  to 
mine  eyes  in  all  its  most  odious  colors,  that  I  may 
feel  a  mortal  and  irreconcilable  hatred  to  it !  O  re- 
present the  majesty  and  mercy  of  the  blessed  God  in 
such  a  manner  that  my  heart  may  be  alarmed,  and 
that  it  may  be  melted!  Smite  the  rock,  that  the 
waters  may  flow:  (Psalm  78 :  20.)  waters  of  ge- 
nuine, undissembled,  and  filial  repentance !  Con- 
vince me,  O  thou  blessed  Spirit !  of  sin,  of  right- 
eousness, and  of  judgment !  John,  16:  8.  Show  me 
that  I  have  undone  myself;  but  that  my  help  is 
found  in  God  alone,  (Hos.  13  :  9,)  in  God  through 
Christ,  in  whom  alone  he  will  extend  compassion 
and  help  to  me  !  According  to  thy  peculiar  office, 
take  of  Christ  and  show  it  unto  me.  John,  16 :  15. 
Show  me  his  power  to  save  !  Show  me  his  willing- 
ness to  exert  that  power  !  Teach  my  faith  to  behold 
him  as  extended  on  the  cross,  with  open  arms,  with 
a  pierced,  bleeding  side ;  and  so  telling  me,  in  the 
most  forcible  language,  what  room  there  is  in  his 
very  heart  for  me !  May  I  know  what  it  is  to  have 
my  whole  heart  subdued  by  love ;  so  subdued  as  to 
be  crucified  with  him  ;  (Rom.  6  :  6.)  to  be  dead  to 
sin  and  dead  to  the  world,  but  alive  unto  God, 
through  Jesus  Christ.    Rom.  6  :  11.   In  his  power 


184  REPENTANCE    AND    FAITH. 

and  love  may  I  confide !  To  him  may  I  without  any 
reserve  commit  my  spirit !  His  image  may  I  bear ! 
His  laws  may  I  observe  !  His  service  may  I  pur- 
sue !  And  may  I  remain,  through  time  and  eterni- 
ty, a  monument  of  the  efficacy  of  his  Gospel,  and  a 
trophy  of  his  victorious  grace  ! 

"  0  blessed  God  !  if  there  be  any  thing  wanting 
towards  constituting  me  a  sincere  Christian,  disco- 
ver it  to  me,  and  work  it  in  me  !  Beat  down,  I  be- 
seech thee,  every  false  and  presumptuous  hope,  how 
costly  soever  that  building  may  have  been  which  it 
thus  laid  in  ruins,  and  how  proud  soever  I  may  have 
been  of  its  vain  ornaments  !  Let  me  know  the  worst 
of  my  case,  be  that  knowledge  ever  so  distressing ; 
and  if  there  be  remaining  danger,  O  let  my  heart 
be  fully  sensible  of  it,  sensible  while  yet  there  is  a 
remedy ! 

"  If  there  be  any  secret  sin  yet  lurking  in  my  soul, 
which  I  have  not  sincerely  renounced,  discover  it 
to  me,  and  rend  it  out  of  my  heart,  though  it  may 
have  shot  its  roots  ever  so  deep,  and  have  wrapped 
them  all  around  it,  so  that  every  nerve  shall  be  pain- 
ed by  the  separation  !  Tear  it  away,  O  Lord,  by  , 
hand  graciously  severe!  And  by  degrees,  yea, 
Lord,  by  speedy  advances,  go  on,  I  beseech  thee,  to 
perfect  what  is  still  lacking  in  my  faith.  1  Thess. 
3  :  10.  Accomplish  in  me  all  the  good  pleasure  of 
thy  goodness.  2  Thess.  1:11.  Enrich  me,  O  Hea- 
venly Father,  with  all  the  graces  of  thy  Spirit ;  form 


REPENTANCE    AND    FAITH. 


me  to  the  complete  image  of  thy  dear  Son;  and 
then,  for  his  sake,  come  unto  me,  and  manifest  thy 
gracious  presence  in  my  soul,  (John,  14  :  21,  23,) 
till  it  is  ripened  for  that  state  of  glory  for  which  all 
these  operations  are  intended  to  prepare  it.  Amen." 


186  THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


A  MORE  PARTICULAR  VIEW  OF  THE  SEVERAL  BRANCHES  OP  THE 
CHRISTIAN  TEMPER,  BY  WHICH  THE  READER  MAY  BE  FARTHER 
ASSISTED  IN  JUDGING  WHAT  HE  IS,  AND  WHAT  HE  SHOULD  EN- 
DEAVOR  TO   BE. 

1,  2.  The  importance  of  the  case  engages  to  a  more  particular 
survey  what  manner  of  spirit  we  are  of. — 3.  Accordingly  the 
Christian  temper  is  described,  by  some  general  views  of  it,  as 
a  new  and  divine  temper— 4.  As  resembling  that  of  Christ. 
— 5.  And  as  engaging  us  to  be  spiritually  minded,  and  to 
walk  by  faith. — 6.  A  plan  of  the  remainder. — 7.  In  which 
the  Christian  temper  is  more  particularly  considered — with 
regard  to  the  blessed  God:  as  including  fear,  affection,  and 
obedience. — 8, 9.  Faith  and  love  to  Christ. — 10.  Joy  in  Him. 
— 11-13.  And  a  proper  temper  towards  the  Holy  Spirit, 
varticularly  as  a  spirit  of  adoption  and  of  courage. — 14.  With 
regard  to  ourselves ;  as  including  preference  of  the  soul  to 
the  body,  humility,  purity. — 15.  Temperance. — 16.  Content- 
ment.— 17.  And  Patience. — 18.  With  regard  to  our  fellow- 
creatures  ;  as  including  Love. — 19.  Meekness. — 20.  Peace- 
ableness. — 21.  Mercy. — 22.  Truth. — 23.  And  candor  in 
judging. — 24.  General  qualifications  of  each  branch. — 25. 
Such  as  Sincerity. — 26.  Constancy. — 27.  Tenderness. — 28. 
Zeal. — 29.  And  Prudence. — 30.  These  things  should  fre- 
quently be  recollected. — A  review  of  all  in  a  scriptural  prayer. 

1.  When  I  consider  the  infinite  importance  of 
eternity,  I  find  it  exceedingly  difficult  to  satisfy  my- 


THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER.  187 

self  in  any  thing  which  I  can  say  to  men,  where 
their  eternal  interests  are  concerned.  I  have  given 
you  a  view,  I  hope  I  may  truly  say,  a  just  as  well  as 
a  faithful  view,  of  a  truly  Christian  temper  already. 
Yet,  for  your  farther  assistance,  I  would  offer  it  to 
your  consideration  in  various  points  of  light,  that  you 
may  be  assisted  in  judging  of  what  you  are  and  what 
you  ought  to  be.  And  in  this  I  aim,  not  only  at  your 
conviction,  if  you  are  yet  a  stranger  to  real  religion, 
but  at  your  farther  edification,  if,  by  the  grace  of 
God,  you  are  by  this  time  experimentally  acquainted 
with  it.  Happy  you  will  be,  happy  beyond  expres- 
sion, if,  as  you  go  on  from  one  article  to  another, 
you  can  say,  "  This  is  my  temper  and  character." 
Happy  in  no  inconsiderable  degree,  if  you  can  say, 
H  This  is  what  I  desire,  what  I  pray  for,  and  what  I 
pursue,  in  preference  to  every  opposite  view,  though 
it  be  not  what  I  have  as  yet  attained." 

2.  Search,  then,  and  try  "  what  manner  of  spirit 
you  are  of."  Luke,  9  :  55.  And  may  he  that  search- 
eth  all  hearts  direct  the  inquiry,  and  enable  you  "  so 
to  judge  yourself,  that  you  may  not  be  condemned 
of  the  Lord."     1  Cor.  11:  31,  32. 

3.  Know  in  the  general,  "  that,  if  you  are  a  Chris- 
tian indeed,  you  have  been  {  renewed  in  the  spirit  of 
your  mind,'  (Eph.  4 :  23,)  so  renewed  as  to  be  re- 
generated and  born  again."  It  is  not  enough  to  have 
assumed  a  new  name,  to  have  been  brought  under 
some  new  restraints,  or  to   have  made  a  partial 


188  THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER. 

change  in  some  particulars  of  your  conduct.  The 
change  must  be  great  and  universal.  Inquire,  then, 
whether  you  have  entertained  new  apprehensions  of 
things,  have  formed  a  practical  judgment  different 
from  what  you  formerly  did ;  whether  the  ends  you 
propose,  the  affections  which  you  feel  working  in 
your  heart,  and  the  course  of  action  to  which,  by 
those  affections,  you  are  directed,  be,  on  the  whole, 
new  or  old.  Again,  "  If  you  are  a  Christian  indeed, 
you  are  a  '  partaker  of  a  divine  nature,'  (2  Peter,  1 :  ' 
4,)  divine  in  its  original,  its  tendency,  and  its  resem- 
blance." Inquire,  therefore,  whether  God  hath  im- 
planted a  principle  in  your  heart,  which  tends  to 
him,  and  which  makes  you  like  him.  Search  your 
soul  attentively,  to  see  if  you  have  really  the  image 
thereof  God's  moral  perfections,  of  his  holiness  and 
righteousness,  his  goodness  and  fidelity ;  for  "  the 
new  man  is,  after  God,  created  in  righteousness  and 
true  holiness,"  (Eph.  4  :  24,)  "  and  is  renewed  in 
knowledge  after  the  image  of  him  that  created  him." 
Col.  3:10. 

4.  For  your  farther  assistance,  inquire  "  whethei 
'the  same  mind  be  in  you  which  was  always  m 
Christ.'  Phil.  2  :  5.  Whether  you  bear  the  image 
of  God's  incarnate  Son,  the  brightest  and  fairest  re- 
semblance of  the  Father  which  heaven  or  earth  has 
ever  beheld."  The  blessed  Jesus  designed  himself  to 
be  a  model  for  all  his  followers  ;  and  he  is  certainly 
a  model  most  fit  for  our  imitation :  an  example  in 


THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER.  189 

our  own  nature,  and  in  circumstances  adapted  to  ge- 
neral use:  an  example  recommended  to  us  at  once 
by  its  spotless  perfection,  and  by  the  endearing  rela- 
tions in  which  he  stands  to  us,  as  our  Master,  our 
Friend,  and  our  Head ;  as  the  person  by  whom  our 
everlasting  state  is  to  be  fixed,  and  in  resemblance  to 
whom  our  final  happiness  is  to  consist,  if  ever  we 
are  happy  at  all.  Look  then,  into  the  life  and  temper 
of  Christ,  as  described  and  illustrated  in  the  Gospel, 
and  search  .whether  you  can  find  any  thing  like  it 
in  your  own.  Have  you  any  thing  of  his  devotion, 
love,  and  resignation  to  God?  Any  thing  of  his  hu- 
mility, meekness,  and  benevolence  to  men  ?  Any 
thing  of  his  purity  and  wisdom,  his  contempt  of  the 
world,  his  patience,  his  fortitude,  his  zeal?  And  in- 
deed all  the  other  branches  of  the  Christian  temper, 
which  do  not  imply  previous  guilt  in  the  person  by 
whom  they  are  exercised,  may  be  called  in  to  illus- 
trate and  assist  your  inquiries  under  this  head. 

5.  Let  me  add,  "  If  you  are  a  Christian,  you  are 
in  the  main  'spiritually-minded,'  as  knowing  *  that  is 
life  and  peace;'  whereas,  'to  be  carnally-minded  is 
death.' "  Rom.  8  :  6.  Though  you  "  live  in  the  flesh, 
you  will  not  war  after  it,"  (2  Cor.  10  :  3,)  you  will 
not  take  your  orders  and  your  commands  from  it. 
You  will  indeed  attend  to  its  necessary  interests  as 
matter  of  duty  ;  but  it  will  still  be  with  regard  to  an- 
other and  a  nobler  interest,  that  of  the  rational  and 
immortal  spirit-.  Your  thoughts,  your  affections,  your 


190  THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER. 

pursuits,  your  choice,  will  be  determined  by  a  re- 
gard to  things  spiritual  rather  than  carnal.  In  a 
word,  "  you  will  walk  by  faith,  and  not  by  sight." 
2  Cor.  5  :  7.  Future,  invisible,  and  in  some  degree 
incomprehensible  objects,  will  take  up  your  mind. 
Your  faith  will  act  on  the  being  of  God,  his  perfec- 
tions, his  providences,  his  precepts,  his  threatenings, 
and  his  promises.  It  will  act  upon  Christ,  "  whom 
having  not  seen,"  you  will  "  love  and  honor."  1  Pet. 
1:8.  It  will  act  on  that  unseen  world,  which  it 
knows  to  be  eternal,  and  therefore  infinitely  more 
worthy  of  your  affectionate  regard  than  any  of 
41  those  things  which  are  seen  and  are  temporal."  2 
Cor.  4:18. 

6.  These  are  general  views  of  the  Christian  tem- 
per on  which  I  would  entreat  you  to  examine  your- 
self; and  now  I  would  go  on  to  lead  you  into  a  sur- 
vey of  the  grand  branches  of  it,  as  relating  to  God, 
our  neighbor,  and  ourselves ;  and  of  those  qualifica- 
tions which  must  attend  each  of  these  branches ; 
such  as  sincerity,  constancy,  tenderness,  zeal  and 
prudence.  And  I  beg  your  diligent  attention,  while 
I  lay  before  you  a  few  hints  with  regard  to  each,  by 
which  you  may  judge  the  better,  both  of  your  state 
and  your  duty. 

7.  Examine,  then,  I  entreat  you,  "  the  temper  of 
your  heart  with  regard  to  the  blessed  God."  Do  you 
find  there  a  reverential  fear,  and  a  supreme  love  and 
veneration  for  his  incomparable  excellencies,  a  de- 


THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER.  191 

sire  after  him  as  the  highest  good,  and  a  cordial 
gratitude  towards  him  as  your  supreme  benefactor  % 
Can  you  trust  his  care  ?  Can  you  credit  his  testi- 
mony? Do  you  desire  to  pay  an  unreserved  obedi- 
ence to  all  that  he  commands,  and  an  humble  sub- 
mission to  all  the  disposals  of  his  providence  ?  Do 
you  design  his  glory  as  your  noblest  end,  and  make 
it  the  great  business  of  your  life  to  approve  yourself 
to  him?  Is  it  your  governing  care  to  imitate  him, 
and  to  "serve  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth?"  John, 
4:  24. 

8.  Faith  in  Christ  I  have  already  described  at 
large,  and  therefore  shall  say  nothing  farther,  either 
of  that  persuasion  of  his  power  and  grace,  which  is 
the  great  foundation  of  it,  or  of  that  acceptance  of 
Christ  under  all  his  characters,  or  that  surrender  of 
the  soul  into  his  hands,  in  which  its  peculiar  and 
distinguishing  nature  consists. 

9.  If  this  faith  in  Christ  be  sincere,  "it  will  un- 
doubtedly produce  a  love  to  him  :"  which  will  ex- 
press itself  in  affectionate  thoughts  of  him  ;  in  strict 
fidelity  to  him  ;  in  a  careful  observation  of  his 
charge ;  in  a  regard  to  his  spirit,  to  his  friends,  and 
to  his  interests ;  in  a  reverence  to  the  memorials  of 
his  dying  love  which  he  has  instituted ;  and  in  an 
ardent  desire  after  that  heavenly  world  where  he 
dwells,  and  where  he  will  at  length  "  have  all  his 
people  to  dwell  with  him."  John,  17:2. 

10.  I  may  add,  agreeably  to  the  word  of  God, 


192  THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER. 

"  that  thus  believing  in  Christ  and  loving  hkn,  you 
will  also  rejoice  in  him:"  in  his  glorious  design, 
and  in  his  complete  fitness  to  accomplish  it;  in  the 
promises  of  his  word,  and  in  the  privileges  of  his 
people.  It  will  be  matter  of  joy  to  you,  that  such  a 
Redeemer  has  appeared  in  this  world  of  ours  ;  and 
your  joy  for  yourself  will  be  proportionable  to  the 
decree  of  clearness  with  which  you  discern  your  in- 
terest in  him,  and  relation  to  him. 

1 1.  Let  me  farther  lead  you  into  some  reflections 
on  "  the  temper  of  your  heart  towards  the  blessed 
Spirit."  If  (l  we  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  we  are 
none  of  his."  Rom'.  8  :  19.  If  we  are  not  "  led  by 
the  Spirit  of  God,  we  are  not  the  children  of  God." 
Rom.  8:14.  You  will  then,  if  you  are  a  real  Chris- 
tian, desire  that  you  may  "  be  filled  with  the  Spirit ;" 
(Eph.  5  :  18,)  that  you  may  have  every  power  of 
your  soul  subject  to  his  authority;  that  his  agency 
on  your  heart  may  be  more  constant,  more  operative, 
and  more  delightful.  And  to  cherish  these  sacred 
influences,  you  will  often  have  recourse  to  serious 
consideration  and  meditation  :  you  will  abstain  from 
those  sins  which  tend  to  grieve  him  ;  you  will  im- 
prove the  tender  seasons,  in  which  he  seems  to 
breathe  upon  your  soul ;  you  will  strive  earnestly 
with  God  in  prayer,  that  you  may  have  him  "  shed 
on  you  still  more  abundantly  through  Jesus  Christ ;" 
(Tit.  3  :  6,)  and  you  will  be  desirous  to  fall  in  with 
the  end  of  his  mission,  which  was  to  "  glorify  Christ, 


THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER.  193 

{John,  16  :  14,)  and  to  establish  his  kingdom. 
"  You  will  desire  his  influences  as  the  Spirit  of 
adoption,"  to  render  your  acts  of  worship  free  and 
affectionate,  your  obedience  vigorous,  your  sorrow 
for  sin  overflowing  and  tender,  your  resignation 
meek,  and  your  love  ardent :  in  a  word,  to  carry  you 
through  life  and  death  with  the  temper  of  a  child 
who  delights  in  his  father,  and  who  longs  for  his 
more  immediate  presence. 

12.  Once  more,  "  if  you  are  a  Christian  indeed, 
you  will  be  desirous  to  obtain  the  spirit  of  courage." 
Amidst  all  that  humility  of  soul  to  which  you  will 
be  formed,  you  will  wish  to  commence  a  hero  in  the 
cause  of  Christ,  opposing,  with  a  vigorous  resolution, 
the  strongest  efforts  of  the  powers  of  darkness,  the  in- 
ward corruptions  of  your  own  heart,  and  all  the  out- 
ward difficulties  you  may  meet  with  in  the  way  of 
your  duty,  while  in  the  cause  and  in  the  strength  of 
Christ  you  go  on  "conquering  and  to  conquer." 

13.  All  these  things  may  be  considered  as  branch- 
es of  godliness  ;  of  that  godliness  which  is  "  profita 
ble  unto  all  things,"  and  hath  the  "  promise  of  the 
life  which  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come." 
1.  Tim.  4  :  8. 

14.  Let  me  now  farther  lay  before  you  some 
branches  of  the  Christian  temper  "which  relate  more 
immediately  to  ourselves."  And  here,  if  you  are  a 
Christian  indeed,  you  will  undoubtedly  prefer  the 
soul  to  the  body,  and  things  eternal  to  those  that  are 

17 


194  THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER. 

temporal.  Conscious  of  the  dignity  and  value  of 
your  immortal  part,  you  will  come  to  a  firm  resolu- 
tion to  secure  its  happiness,  whatever  is  to  be  re- 
signed, whatever  is  to  be  endured  in  that  view.  If 
you  are  a  real  Christian,  you  will  be  also  "  clothed 
with  humility."  1  Pet.  5  :  5.  You  will  have  a  deep 
sense  of  your  own  imperfections,  both  natural  and 
moral ;  of  the  short  extent  of  your  knowledge ;  of 
the  uncertainty  and  weakness  of  your  resolutions  ; 
and  of  your  continual  dependence  upon  God,  and 
upon  almost  every  thing  about  you.  And  especially 
will  you  be  deeply  sensible  of  your  guilt ;  the  re- 
membrance of  which  will  fill  you  with  shame  and 
confusion,  even  when  you  have  some  reason  to  hope 
it  is  forgiven.  This  will  forbid  all  haughtiness  and 
insolence  of  your  behavior  to  your  fellow-creatures. 
It  will  teach  you,  under  afflictive  providences,  with 
all  holy  submission  to  bear  the  indignation  of  the 
Lord  as  those  that  know  they  "  have  sinned  against 
him."  Mic.  7  :  9.  Again,  if  you  are  a  Christian 
indeed,  "  you  will  labor  after  purity  of  soul,"  and 
maintain  a  fixed  abhorrence  of  all  prohibited  sensual 
indulgence.  A  recollection  of  past  impurities  will 
fill  you  with  shame  and  grief,  and  you  will  c-ndeavor 
for  the  future  to  guard  your  thoughts  and  desires, 
as  well  as  your  words  and  actions,  and  to  abstain,  noi 
only  from  the  commission  of  evil,  but  "  from  the" 
distant  "appearance"  and  probable  occasions  "of  it:" 
(I  Thess.  5  :  22,)  as  conscious  of  the  perfect  holi- 


THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER.  195 

ness  of  that  God  with  whom  you  converse,  and  of 
the  "purifying  nature  of  that  hope,"  (I  John,  3  :  3,) 
which  by  his  Gospel  he  hath  taught  you  to  enter- 
tain. 

15.  With  this  is  nearly  allied  "that  amiable  vir- 
tue of  temperance,"  which  will  teach  you  to  guard 
against  such  a  use  of  meats  and  drinks  as  indis- 
poses the  body  for  the  service  of  the  soul ;  or  such 
an  indulgence  in  either,  as  will  rob  you  of  that  pre- 
cious jewel,  your  time,  or  occasion  an  expense  beyond 
what  your  circumstances  will  admit,  and  beyond 
what  will  consist  with  what  you  owe  to  the  cause 
of  Christ,  and  those  liberalities  to  the  poor  which 
your  relation  and  theirs  to  God  and  each  other  will 
require.  In  short,  you  will  guard  against  whatever 
has  a  tendency  to  increase  a  sensual  disposition, 
against  whatever  would  alienate  the  soul  from  com- 
munion with  God,  and  would  diminish  its  zeal  and 
activity  in  his  service. 

16.  The  divine  philosophy  of  the  blessed  Jesus 
will  also  teach  you  "  a  contented  temper."  It  will 
moderate  your  desires  of  those  worldly  enjoyments 
after  which  many  feel  such  an  insatiable  thirst,  ever 
growing  with  indulgence  and  success.  You  will 
guard  against  an  immoderate  care  about  those  things 
which  would  lead  you  into  a  forgetfulness  of  your 
heavenly  inheritance.  If  Providence  disappoint 
your  undertakings,  you  will  submit ;  if  others  be 
more  prosperous,  you  will  not  envy  them,  but  rather 


196  THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER. 

will  be  thankful  for  what  God  is  pleased  to  bestow 
upon  them,  as  well  as  for  what  he  gives  you.  No 
unlawful  methods  will  be  used  to  alter  your  present 
condition;  and  whatever  it  is,  you  will  endeavor  to 
make  the  best  of  it,  remembering  it  is  what  infinite 
wisdom  and  goodness  have  appointed  you,  and  that 
it  is  beyond  all  comparison  better  than  you  have 
deserved  ;  yea,  that  the  very  deficiencies  and  incon- 
veniences of  it  may  conduce  to  the  improvement  of 
your  future  and  complete  happiness. 

17.  With  contentment,  if  you  are  a  disciple  of 
Christ,  "  you  will  join  patience  too,"  and  u  in  pa- 
tience will  possess  your  soul."    Luke,  21 :  19.    You 
cannot  indeed  be  quite  insensible  either  of  afflictions 
or  injuries ;  but  your  mind  will  be  calm  and  com- 
posed under  them,  and  steady  in  the  prosecution  of 
proper  duty,  though  afflictions  press,  and  though 
your  hopes,  your  dearest  hopes  and  prospects  be  de- 
layed.   Patience  will  prevent  hasty  and  rash  conclu- 
sions, and  fortify  you  against  seeking  irregular  me- 
thods of  relief;  disposing  you,  in  the  mean  time,  till 
God  shall  be  pleased  to  appear  for  you,  to  go  on 
steadily  in  the  way  of  your  duty  ;"  committing  your- 
self to  him  in  well-doing."  1  Pet.  4  :  19.    You  will 
also  be  careful  that  "  patience  may  have  its  perfect 
work,"  (James,  1 :  4,)  and  prevail  in  proportion  to 
those  circumstances  which  demand  its  peculiar  ex- 
ercise.   For  instance,  when  the  successions  of  evil 
are  long  and  various,  so  that  "  deep  calls  to  deep," 


THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER.  197 

and  "all  God's  waves  and  billows  seem  to  be  going 
over  you,"  one  after  another;  (Psalm  42:  7,)  when 
God  touches  you  in  the  most  tender  part;  when  the 
reasons  of  his  conduct  to  you  are  quite  unaccounta- 
ble ;  when  your  natural  spirits  are  weak  ana  decay- 
ed ;  when  unlawful  methods  of  redress  seem  near  and 
easy;  still  your  reverence  for  the  will  of  your  hea- 
venly Father  will  carry  it  against  all,  and  keep  you 
wait  ingquietly  for  deliverance  in  his  own  time  and 
way. 

18.  I  have  thus  led  you  into  a  brief  review  of  the 
Christian  temper,  with  respect  to  God  and  ourselves : 
permit  me  now  to  add,  "that  the  Gospel  will  teach 
you  another  set  of  very  important  lessons  with  re- 
spect to  your  fellow-creatures."  They  all  are  sum- 
med up  in  this,  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself;"  (Rom.  13:9,)  and  "whatsoever  thou 
wouldst  (that  is,  whatsoever  thou  couldst,  in  an  ex- 
change of  circumstances,  fairly  and  reasonably  de- 
sire,) that  others  should  do  unto  thee,  do  thou  like- 
wise the  same  unto  them."  Matt.  7:  12.  The  re- 
ligion of  the  blessed  Jesus,  when  it  triumphs  in  your 
soul,  v/ill  conquer  the  predominancy  of  an  irregular 
self-love,  and  will  teach  you  candidly  and  tenderly 
to  look  upon  your  neighbor  as  another  self.  As 
you  are  sensible  of  your  own  rights,  you  will  be 
sensible  of  his  :  as  you  support  your  own  character, 
you  will  support  his.  You  will  desire  his  welfare, 
and  be  ready  to  relieve  his  necessity,  as  you  would 
17* 


198  THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER. 

have  your  own  consulted  by  another.  You  will  put 
the  kindest  construction  upon  his  most  dubious 
words  and  actions.  You  will  take  pleasure  in  his 
happiness ;  you  will  feel  his  distress,  in  some  mea- 
sure, as  your  own.  And  most  happy  will  you  be, 
when  this  obvious  rule  is  familiar  to  your  mind, 
when  this  golden  law  is  written  upon  your  heart, 
and  when  it  is  habitually  and  impartially  consulted 
by  you  upon  every  occasion,  whether  great  or  small. 
19.  The  Gospel  will  also  teach  you  "  to  put  on 
meekness,"  (Col.  3  :  12,)  not  only  with  respect  to 
God,  submitting  to  the  authority  of  his  word,  and 
the  disposal  of  his  providence,  as  was  urged  before; 
but  also  with  regard  to  your  brethren  of  mankind. 
Its  gentle  intructions  will  form  you  to  calmness  of 
temper  under  injuries  and  provocations,  so  that  you 
may  not  be  angry  without,  or  beyond  just  cause.  It 
will  engage  you  to  guard  your  words,  lest  you  pro- 
voke and  exasperate  those  you  should  rather  study 
by  love  to  gain,  and  by  tenderness  to  heal.  Meek- 
ness will  render  you  slow  in  using  any  rough  and 
violent  methods,  if  they  can  by  any  means  be  lawful- 
ly avoided ;  and  ready  to  admit,  and  even  to  pro- 
pose a  reconciliation,  after  they  have  been  entered 
into,  if  there  may  yet  be  hope  of  succeeding.  So 
far  as  this  branch  of  the  Christian  temper  prevails 
in  your  heart,  you  will  take  care  to  avoid  every  thing 
which  might  give  unnecessary  offence  to  others ;  you 
will  behave  yourself  in  a  modest  manner,  according 


THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER.  199 

to  your  station ;  and  it  will  work,  both  with  regard  to 
superiors?  and  inferiors,  teaching  you  duly  to  honor 
the  one,  tmd  not  to  overbear  or  oppress,  to  grieve  or 
insult  the  other.  And  in  religion  itself,  it  will  re- 
strain all  immoderate  sallies  and  harsh  censure ;  and 
will  command  down  "  that  wrath  of  man,  which,  in- 
stead of  working,  so  often  opposes  the  righteousness 
of  God,"  (James,  1  :  20.)  and  shames  and  wounds 
that  good  cause,  in  which  it  is  boisterously  and  furi- 
ously engag-ed. 

' !  20.  With  this  is  naturally  connected  "a  peaceful 
disposition."  If  you  are  a  Christian  indeed,  you  will 
have  such  a  value  and  esteem  for  peace,  as  to  en- 
deavor to  obtain,  and  to  preserve  it,  "  as  much  as 
lieth  in  you,"  (Rom.  12  :  18.)  as  much  as  you  fairly 
and  honorably  can.  This  will  have  such  an  influ- 
ence upon  your  conduct,  as  to  make  you  not  only 
cautious  of  giving  offence,  and  slow  in  taking  it,  but 
earnestly  desirous  to  regain  peace  as  soon  as  may 
be,  when  it  is  in  any  measure  broken,  that  the  wound 
may  be  healed  while  it  is  green,  and  before  it  begins 
to  rankle  and  fester.  And  more  especially,  this  dis- 
position will  engage  you  "to  keep  the  unity  of  the 
Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace,"  (Eph.  4  :  3,)  "with  all 
that  in  every  place  call  on  the  name  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,"  (1  Cor.  1  :  2,)  whom  if  you  truly  love, 
you  will  also  love  all  those  whom  you  have  reason 
to  believe  to  be  his  disciples  and  servants. 

21.  If  you  be  yourselves  indeed  of  that  number, 


200  THE    CHRISTIAN   TEMPER.  , 

«  you  will  also  '  put  on  bowels  of  mercy.  "  Col.  3  : 
ll  The  mercies  of  God,  and  those  of  the  blessed 
Redeemer,  will  work  on  your  heart,  to  mould  it  to 
Itiments  of  compassion  and  generosity,  so  that  you 
will  feel  the  wants  and  sorrows  of  others ;  you  will 
desire  to  relieve  their  necessities;  and  as  you  haw 
an  opportunity,  you  will  do  good,  both  to  their  bodies 
and  their  souls;  expressing  your  kind  affectum,  in 
suitable  actions,  which  may  both  evidence  then  sin- 
ceritv  and  render  them  effectual 

B2.  As  a  Christian,  "  you  will  also  maintain  truth 
inviolable,"  not  only  in  your  solemn  testimonies, 
when  confirmed  by  an  oath,  but  likewise  in  common 
conversation.  You  will  remember,  too,  that  your 
promises  bring  an  obligation  upon  you,  which  you 
are  by  no  means  at  liberty  to  break  through.  On  the 
whole  you  will  be  careful  to  keep  a  strict  corres- 
pondence between  your  words  and  your  actions  in 
such  a  manner  as  becomes  a  servant  of  the  God  of 

truth.  .  i 

23.  Once  more,  as,  amidst  the  strictest  care  to  ob- 
serve all  the  divine  precepts,  you  will  still  find  many 
imperfections,  on  account  of  which  you  will  be 
obliged  to  pray,  that  "God  would  not  enter  into 
strict  judgment  with  you,"  as  well ^knowing  <<  that 
in  his  sight  you  cannot  be  justified,"  (Psalm  143^ 
2 )  you  will  be  careful  not  to  judge  others  "  in  such 
a'  manner  as  should  awaken  the  severity  of  'his 
judgment  against  yourself.'"    Matt.  7  :  1,  2.    You 


THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER.  20\ 

will  not,  therefore,  judge  them  impertinently,  when 
you  have  nothing  to  do  with  their  actions  ;  nor  rash- 
ly, without  inquiring  into  circumstances ;  nor  par- 
tially, without  weighing  them  attentively  and  fairly; 
nor  uncharitably,  putting  the  worst  construction  upon 
things  in  their  own  nature  dubious;  deciding  upon 
intentions  as  evil,  farther  than  they  certainly  appear 
to  be  so  ;  pronouncing  on  the  state  of  men,  or  on  the 
whole  of  their  character,  from  any  particular  action, 
and  involving  the  innocent  with  the  guilty.  There  is 
a  moderation  contrary  to  all  these  extremes,  which 
the  Gospel  recommends  ;  and  if  you  receive  the  Gos- 
pel in  good  earnest  into  your  heart,  it  will  lay  the 
ax  to  the  root  of  such  evils  as  these. ' 

24.  Having  thus  briefly  illustrated  the  principal 
branches  of  the  Christian  temper  and  character,  I 
shall  conclude  the  representation,  with  reminding 
you  of 4'  some  general  qualifications,  which  must  be 
mingled  with  all,  and  give  a  tincture  to  each  of 
them ;  such  as  sincerity,  constancy,  tenderness,  zeal, 
and  prudence." 

25.  Always  remember,  that  "  sincerity  is  the  very 
soul  of  true  religion."  A  single  intention  to  please 
God,  and  to  approve  ourselves  to  him,  must  animate 
and  govern  all  that  we  do  in  it.  Under  the  influence 
of  this  principle  you  will  impartially  inquire  into 
every  intimation  of  duty,  and  apply  to  the  practice 
of  it  so  far  as  it  is  known  to  you.  Your  heart  will  be 
engaged  in  all  you  do.   Your  conduct,  in  private  and 


202  THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER. 

in  secret,  will  be  agreeable  to  your  most  public  be- 
havior. A  sense  of  the  Divine  authority  will  teach 
you  "  to  esteem  all  God's  precepts  concerning  all 
things  to  be  right,  and  to  hate  every  false  way." 
Psalm  119  :  128. 

26.  Thus  are  you,  "  in  simplicity  and  godly  sin- 
cerity to  have  your  conversation  in  the  world."  2 
Cor.  1  :  12.  And  "you  are  also  to  charge  it  upon 
your  soul  '  to  be  steadfast  and  immovable,  always 
abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord.'  "  1  Cor.  15  : 
58.  There  must  not  only  be  some  sudden  fits  and 
starts  of  devotion,  or  of  something  which  looks  like 
it,  but  religion  must  be  an  habitual  and  permanent 
thing.  There  *must  be  a  purpose  to  adhere  to  it  at 
all  times.  It  must  be  made  the  stated  and  ordinary 
business  of  life.  Deliberate  and  presumptuous  sins 
must  be  carefully  avoided ;  a  guard  must  be  main- 
tained against  the  common  infirmities  of  life ;  and 
falls  of  one  kind  or  of  another  must  be  matter  of  pro- 
portionable humiliation  before  God,  and  must  occa- 
sion renewed  resolution  for  his  service.  And  thus 
you  are  to  go  on  to  the  end  of  your  life,  not  discou- 
raged by  the  length  and  difficulty  of  the  way,  nor  al- 
lured on  the  one  hand,  or  terrified  on  the  other,  by 
all  the  various  temptations  which  may  surround  and 
assault  you.  Your  soul  must  be  fixed  on  this  ba- 
sis, and  you  are  still  to  behave  yourself  as  one  who 
knows  he  serves  an  unchangeable  God,  and  who 
expects  from  him  "  a  kingdom  which  cannot  be  mo 
ved."    Heb.  12  :  28. 


THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER.  203 

27.  Again,  so  far  as  the  Gospel  prevails  in  your 
heart,  "  your  spirit  will  be  tender,  and  the  stone  will 
be  transformed  into  flesh."  You  will  desire  thai 
your  apprehensions  of  divine  things  may  be  quick, 
your  affections  ready  to  take  proper  impressions,  your 
conscience  always  easily  touched,  and,  on  the  whole, 
your  resolutions  pliant  to  the  divine  authority,  and 
cordially  willing  to  be,  and  to  do  whatever  God 
shall  appoint.  You  will  have  a  tender  regard  to  the 
word  of  God,  a  tender  caution  against  sin,  a  tender 
guard  against  the  snares  of  prosperity,  a  tender  sub- 
mission to  God's  afflicting  hand :  in  a  word,  you 
will  be  tender  wherever  the  divine  honor  is  concern- 
ed ;  and  careful,  neither  to  do  any  thing  yourself,  nor 
to  allow  any  thing  in  another,  so  far  as  you  can  in- 
fluence, by  which  God  should  be  offended,  or  reli- 
gion reproached. 

28.  Nay,  more  than  all  this,  you  will,  so  far  as 
true  Christianity  governs  in  your  mind,  "  exert  a 
holy  zeal  in  the  service  of  your  Redeemer  and  your 
Father."  You  will  be  "  zealously  affected  in  every 
good  thing,"  (Gal.  4  :  18,)  in  proportion  to  its  ap- 
prehended goodness  and  importance.  You  will  be 
zealous,  especially,  to  correct  what  is  irregular  in 
yourself,  and  to  act  to  the  utmost  of  your  ability  for 
the  Cause  of  God.  Nor  will  you  be  able  to  look  with 
an  indifferent  eye  on  the  conduct  of  others  in  this 
view:  but,  so  far  as  charity,  meekness,  and  prudence 
will  admit,  you  will  testify  your  disapprobation  of 


204  THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER. 

every  thing  in  it  which  is  dishonorable  to  God  and 
injurious  to  men.  And  you  will  labor,  not  only  to 
reclaim  men  from  such  courses,  but  to  engage  them 
to  religion,  and  quicken  them  in  it. 

29.  And  once  more,  you  will  desire  "  to  use  the 
prudence  which  God  hath  given  you,"  in  judging 
what  is,  in  present  circumstances,  your  duty  to  Godt 
your  neighbor,  and  yourself;  what  will  be,  on  the 
whole,  the  most  acceptable  manner  of  discharging  it, 
and  how  far  it  may  be  most  advantageously  pursued  ; 
as  remembering  that  he  is  indeed  the  wisest  and  the 
happiest  man,  who,  by  constant  attention  of  thought, 
discovers  the  greatest  opportunities  of  doing  good, 
and  with  ardent  and  animated  resolution  breaks 
through  every  opposition,  that  he  may  improve  those 
opportunities. 

30.  This  is  such  a  view  of  the  Christian  temper 
as  could  conveniently  be  thrown  within  such  narrow 
limits;  and  I  hope  it  may  assist  many  in  the  great 
and  important  work  of  self-examination.  Let  your 
own  conscience  answer,  how  far  you  have  already 
attained  it,  and  how  far  you  desire  it ;  and  let  the 
principal  topics  here  touched  upon  be  fixed  in  your 
memory  and  in  your  heart,  that  you  may  be  men- 
tioning them  before  God  in  your  daily  addresses 
to  the  throne  of  grace,  in  order  to  receive  from  him 
all  necessary  assistance  for  bringing  them  into 
practice. 


THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER.  205 

A  Prayer,  chiefly  in  Scripture  Language,  in  which  the  several 
Branches  of  the  Christian  temper  are  more  briefly  enumerat- 
ed in  the  order  laid  down  above. 

*  Blessed  God,  I  humbly  adore  thee  as  the  great 
Father  of  lights,  and  the  Giver  of  every  good  and 
every -perfect  gift.  James,  1  :  17.  From  thee,  there- 
fore, I  seek  every  blessing,  and  especially  those 
vhich  may  lead  me  to  thyself,  and  prepare  me  for 
the  eternal  enjoyment  of  thee.  I  adore  thee  as  the 
God  wLo  searches  the  hearts  and  tries  the  reins  of  the 
children  of  men.  Jer.  17:  10.  Search  me,  O  God,  and 
know  my  heart ;  try  me,  and  know  my  thoughts;  and 
see  if  there  be  any  wicked  way  in  me,  and  lead  me  in 
the  way  everlasting.  Psal.  139  :  23,  24.  May  I  know 
what  manner  of  spirit  I  am  of,  (Luke,  9 :  55,)  and 
be  preserved  from  mistaking,  where  the  error  might 
be  infinitely  fatal ! 

"May  I,  O  Lord,  be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  my 
mind.  Eph.  4 :  24.  A  new  heart  do  thou  give  me, 
and  a  new  spirit  do  thou  put  within  me.  Ezek.  34 : 
26.  Make  me  partaker  of  divine  nature ;  (2  Pet.  1 : 
4,)  and  as  he  who  hath  called  me  is  holy,  may  I  be 
holy  in  all  manner  of  conversation.  1  Pet.  1  :  15. 
May  the  same  mind  be  in  me  which  was  also  in 
Christ  Jesus;  (Phil.  2  :  5,)  may  I  so  walk  even  as 
he  walked.  1  John,  2,:  6.  Deliver  me  from  being 
carnally-minded,  which  is  death ;  and  make  me  spi- 
ritually-minded, since  that  is  lifeiand  peace.  .Rom. 
8  :  6.  And  may  I,  while  I  pass  through  this  world  of 
18 


206  THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER. 

sense,  walk  by  faith  and  not  by  sight,  (2  Cor.  5  :  7,)  and 
be  strong  in  faith,  giving  glory  to  God.  Rom.  4:  20. 
''  May  thy  grace,  O  Lord,  which  hath  appeared 
unto  all  men,  and  appeared  to  me  with  such  glori- 
ous evidence  and  lustre,  effectually  teach  me  to  deny 
ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  and  to  live  soberly, 
righteously,  and  godly.  Tit.  2:11,  12.  Work  in 
my  heart  that  godliness  which  is  profitable  unto  all 
things  ;  (1  Tim.  4  :  8,)  and  teach  me  by  the  influence 
of  thy  blessed  Spirit,  to  love  thee,  the  Lord  my  God, 
with  all  my  heart,  and  with  all  my  soul,  and  with  all 
my  mind,  and  with  all  my  strength.  Mark,  12:  30. 
May  I  yield  myself  unto  thee,  as  alive  from  the  dead, 
(Rom.  6  :  13,)  and  present  my  body  a  living  sacri- 
fice, holy  and  acceptable  in  thy  sight,  which  is  my 
most  reasonable  service !  Rom.  12:  1.  May  I  enter- 
tain the  most  faithful  and  affectionate  regard  to  the 
blessed  Jesus,  thine  incarnate  Son,  the  brightness  of 
thy  glory,  and  the  express  image  of  thy  person. 
Heb.  1  :  3.  Though  I  have  not  seen  him,  may  I 
love  him ;  and  in  him,  though  now  I  see  him  not, 
yet  believing,  may  I  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable 
and  full  of  glory,  (1  Pet.  1:  8,)  and  may  the  life 
which  I  live  in  the  flesh  be  daily  by  the  faith  of  the 
Son  of  God.  Gal.  2  :  20.  May  I  be  filled  with  the 
Spirit,  (Eph.  5  :  IS,)  and  may  I  be  led  by  it:  (Rom. 
8  :  14.)  and  so  may  it  be  evident  to  others,  and  es- 
pecially to  my  own  soul,  that  I  am  a  child  of  God, 
and  an  heir  of  glory.    May  I  not  receive  the  spirit 


THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER.  207 

of  bondage  unto  fear,  but  the  spirit  of  adoption, 
whereby  I  may  be  enabled  to  cry,  Abba,  Father. 
Rom.  8:15.    May  he  work  in  me,  as  the  spirit  of 
love,  and  of  power,  and  of  a  sound  mind,  (2  Tim.  I 
17,)  that  so  I  may  add  to  my  faith  virtue.    2  Pet.  1 
5.  May  I  be  strong,  and  very  courageous,  (Josh.  1 
7,)  and  quit  myself  like  a  man,  (1  Cor.  14  :  13,)  and 
like  a  Christian,  in  the  work  to  which  I  am  called, 
and  in  that  warfare  which  I  had  in  view  when  I 
listed  under  the  banner  of  the.  great  Captain  of  my 
salvation. 

"  Teach  me,  O  Lord,  seriously  to  consider  the  na- 
ture of  my  own  soul,  and  to  set  a  suitable  value  upon 
it.  May  I  labor,  not  only  or  chiefly,  for  the  meat 
that  perisheth,  but  for  that  which  endurethto  eternal 
life.  John,  6:  27.  May  I  humble  myself  under  thy 
mighty  hand,  and  be  clothed  with  humility,  (1  Pet. 
5  :  5,  6,)  decked  with  the  ornament  of  a  meek  and 
quiet  spirit,  which  in  the  sight  of  God  is  of  great 
price.  1  Pet.  3  :  4.  May  I  be  pure  in  heart,  that  I 
may  see  God,  (Matt.  5:  8,)  mortifying  my  members 
which  are  on  the  earth,  (Col.  3  :  5,)  so  that  if  a  right 
eye  offend  me,  I  may  pluck  it  out,  and  if  a  right 
hand  offend  me,  I  may  cut  it  off  Matt.  5  :  29,  30. 
May  I  be  temperate  in  all  things,  (1  Cor.  9  :  25,) 
content  with  such  things  as  I  have,  (Heb.  13:  5,) 
and  instructed  to  be  so  in  whatever  state  I  am.  Phil. 
4:11.  May  patience  also  have  its  perfect  work  in 
me,  that  I  may  be  in  that  respect  complete,  and  want- 
ing nothing.    James,  1  :  4. 


208  THE  -CHRISTIAN    TEMPER. 

41  Form  me,  O  Lord,  I  beseech  thee,  to  a  proper 
temper  toward  my  fellow-creatures  !  May  I  love  my 
neighbor  as  myself,  (Gal.  5  :  14,)  and  whatsoever  I 
would  that  others  should  do  unto  me,  may  I  also  do 
the  same  unto  them.  Matt.  7:  12.  May  I  put  on 
meekness  under  the  greatest  injuries  and  provoca- 
tions, (Col.  3 :  12,)  and,  if  it  be  possible,  as  much  as 
lieth  in  me,  may  I  live  peaceably  with  all  men. 
Rom.  12  :  18.  May  I  be  merciful,  as  my  Father  in 
heaven  is  merciful,  I^uke,  6:  36.  May  I  speak  the 
truth  from  my  heart;  (Psalm  15:  2,)  and  may  I 
speak  it  in  love,  (Eph.  4:  15,)  guarding  against 
every  instance  of  a  censorious  and  malignant  dispo- 
sition ;  and  taking  care  not  to  judge  severely,  as  I 
would  not  be  judged  with  the  severity  which  thou, 
Lord,  knowest,  and  which  mine  own  conscience 
knows,  I  should  not  be  able  to  support. 

"  I  entreat  thee,  O  Lord,  to  work  in  me  all  those 
qualifications  of  the  Christian  temper  which  may 
render  it  peculiarly  acceptable  to  thee,  and  may 
prove  ornamental  to  my  profession  in  the  world. 
Renew,  I  beseech  thee,  a  right  spirit  within  me, 
(Psalm  51  :  10,)  make  me  an  Israelite  indeed,  in 
whom  there  is  no  allowed  guile.  John,  1  :  47.  And 
while  I  feast  on  Christ,  as  my  passover  sacrificed 
for  me,  may  I  keep  the  feast  with  the  unleavened 
bread  of  sincerity  and  truth.  1  Cor.  5  :  7,  8.  Make 
me,  I  beseech  thee,  O  thou  Almighty  and  unchange- 
able God  !  steadfast  and  immovable,  always  abound* 


THE    CHRISTIAN    TEMPER. 


209 


ing  in  thy  work,  as  knowing  that  my  labor  in  the 
Lord  shall  not  he  finally  in  vain.  1  Cor.  15  :  58. 
May  my  heart  be  tender,  (2  Kings,  17  :  19.)  easily 
impressed  with  thy  word  and  providence,  touched 
with  an  affectionate  concern  for  thy  glory,  and  sen- 
sible of  every  impulse  of  thy  Spirit.  May  I  be  zeal- 
ous for  my  God,  (Numb.  25  :  13,)  with  a  zeal  ac- 
cording to  knowledge  and  charity,  (1  Cor.  14  :  14,) 
and  teach  me  in  thy  service  to  join  the  wisdom  of 
the  serpent  with  the  boldness  of  the  lion  and  the  in- 
nocence of  the  dove.  Matt.  10  :  16.  Thus  render 
me,  by  thy  grace,  a  shining  image  of  my  dear  Re- 
deemer j  and  at  length  bring  me  to  wear  the  bright 
resemblance  of  his  holiness  and  his  glory,  in  that 
world  where  he  dwells ;  that  I  may  ascribe  everlast- 
ing honors  to  him,  and  to  thee,  O  thou  Father  of 
mercies,  whose  invaluable  gift  he  is,  and  to  thine 
Holy  Spirit,  through  whose  gracious  influence,  I 
would  humbly  hope,  I  may  call  thee  my  Father,  and 
Jesus  my  Savior  !    Amen." 


210  CHRISTIAN    TEMPER    SOUGHT. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


THE  READER  REMINDED  HOW  MUCH  HE  NEEDS  THE  ASSISTANCE 
OP  THE  SPIRIT  OP  GOD  TO  FORM  HIM  TO  THE  TEMPER  DESCRIB- 
ED ABOVE,  AND  WHAT  ENCOURAGEMENT  HE  HAS  TO  EXPECT  IT. 

1.  Forward  resolutions  may  prove  ineffectual. — 2.  Yet  religion 
is  not  to  be  given  up  in  despair,  but  Divine  grace  to  be  sought. 
— 3.  A  general  view  of  its  reality  and  necessity,  from  reason. 
— 1  And  Scripture.— 5.  The  spirit  lobe  sought  as  the  spirit 
of  Christ. — 6.  And  in  that  view  the  great  strength  of  the 
soul.~  7.  The  encouragement  there  is  to  hope  for  the  commu- 
nication of  it. — 8.  A  concluding  exhortation  to  pray  for  it. 
And  an  humble  address  to  God  pursuant  to  that  exhortation. 

I  have  now  laid  before  you  a  plan  of  that  temper 
and  character  which  the  Gospel  requires,  and  which, 
if  you  are  a  true  Christian,  you  will  desire  and  pur- 
sue. Surely  there  is,  in  the  very  description  of  it, 
something  which  must  powerfully  strike  every  rnind 
which  has  any  taste  for  what  is  truly  beautiful  and 
excellent.  And  I  question  not,  but  you,  my  dear 
reader,  will  feel  some  impression  of  it  upon  your 
heart.  You  will  immediately  form  some  lively  pur- 
pose of  endeavoring  after  it ;  and  perhaps  you  may 
imagine,  you  shall  certainly  and  quickly  attain  to  it. 
You  see.  how  reasonable  it  is,  and  what  desirable 
consequences  necessarily  attend  it,  and  the  aspect 


CHRISTIAN    TEMPER    SOUGHT.  211 

which  it  bears  on  your  present  enjoyment  and  your 
future  happiness  ;  and  therefore  are  determined  you 
will  act  accordingly.  But  give  me  leave  seriously 
to  remind  you  how  many  there  have  been,  (would 
to  God  that  several  such  instances  had  not  happened 
within  the  compass  of  my  own  personal  observa- 
tion !)  whose  goodness  hath  been  "  like  a  morning 
cloud  and  the  early  dew,"  which  soon  "  passeth 
away."  Hos.  6  :  4.  There  is  not  room  indeed  ab- 
solutely to  apply  the  words  of  Joshua,  taken  in  the 
most  rigorous  sense,  when  he  said  to  Israel,  that  he 
might  humble  their  too  hasty  and  sanguine  resolu- 
tions, "  You  cannot  serve  the  Lord."  Josh.  24  :  12. 
But  I  will  venture  to  say,  you  cannot  easily  do  it. 
Alas  !  you  know  not  the  difficulties  you  have  to 
break  through;  you  know  not  the  temptations  which 
Satan  will  throw  in  your  way ;  you  know  not  how 
importunate  your  vain  and  sinful  companions  will 
be,  to  draw  you  back  into  the  snare  you  may  attempt 
to  break;  and,  above  all,  you  know  not  the  subtle 
artifices  which  your  own  corruptions  will  practice 
upon  you  in  order  to  recover  their  dominion  over 
you.  You  think  the  views  you  now  have  of  things 
will  be  lasting,  because  the  principles  and  objects  to 
which  they  refer  are  so :  but  perhaps  to-morrow  may 
undeceive  you,  or  rather  deceive  you  anew:  to-mor- 
row may  present  some  trifle  in  a  new  dress,  which 
shall  amuse  you  into  a  forgetfulness  of  all  this.  Nay, 
perhaps  before  you  lie  down  on  your  bed,  the  im- 


212  CHRISTIAN    TEMPER    SOUGHT. 

pressions  you  now  feel  may  wear  off.  The  corrupt 
desires  of  your  own  heart,  now  perhaps  a  little 
charmed  down,  and  lying  as  if  they  were  dead,  may 
spring  up  again  with  new  violence,  as  if  they  had 
slept  only  to  recruit  their  vigor;  and  if  you  are  not 
supported  by  a  better  strength  than  your  own,  this 
strucrale  for  liberty  will  only  make  your  future 
chains  the  heavier,  the  more  shameful,  and  the  more 

a  2  '  What  then  is  to  be  done?  Is  the  convinced 
sinner  to  lie  down  in  despair  ?  to  say,  »  I  am  a  help- 
less captive,  and  by  exerting  myself  with  violence, 
may  break  my  limbs  sooner  than  my  bonds,  and  in- 
crease  the  evil  I  would  remove  ?"  God  forbid  !  You 
cannot,  I  am  persuaded,  be  so  little  acquainted  with 
Christianity,  as  not  to  know  "that  the  doctrine  of 
divine  assistance  bears  a  very  considerable  part  in 
it »  You  have  often,  I  doubt  not,  read  of  "  the  law 
of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus,  as  making  us 
free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death,"  (Rom.  8  :  2,) 
and  have  been  told,  "that  through  the  Spirit  we 
mortify  the  deeds  of  the  body."  Rom.  8  :  13.  You 
have  read  of  -  doing  all  things  through  Christ,  who 
strengtheneth  us,"  (Phil.  4  :  15,)  whose  grace  "is 
sufficient  for  us,"  and  whose  "  strength  is  made  per- 
feet  in  weakness."  2  Cor.  12  :  9.  Permit  me,  there- 
fore  now  to  call  your  attention  to  this,  as  a  truth  of 
the  clearest  evidence,  and  of  the  utmost  importance. 
3    Reason,  indeed,  as  well  as  the  whole  tenor  of 


CHRISTIAN    TEMPER    SOUGHT.  213 

Scripture,  agrees  with  this.*  The  whole  created 
world  has  a  necessary  dependence  on  God :  from 
him  even  the  knowledge  of  "  natural  things  "  is 
derived,  (Psalm  94  :  10,)  and  "  skill  in  them  is  to  be 
ascribed  to  him."  Exod.  31  :  3-6.  Much  more  loud- 
ly does  so  great  and  excellent  a  work,  as  the  new- 
forming  the  human  mind,  bespeak  its  divine  Au- 
thor. When  you  consider  how  various  the  branch- 
es of  the  Christian  temper  are,  and  how  contrary 
many  of  them  also  are  to  that  temper,  which  hath 
prevailed  in  your  heart,  and  governed  your  life  in 
time  past,  you  must  really  see  divine  influences  as 
necessary  to  produce  and  nourish  them,  as  the  influ- 
ences of  the  sun  and  rain  are  to  call  up  the  variety 
of  plants  and  flowers,  and  grains  and  fruits,  by  which 
the  earth  is  adorned,  and  our  life  supported.  You 
will  be  yet  more  sensible  of  this,  if  you  reflect  on  the 
violent  opposition  which  this  happy  work  must  ex- 
pect to  meet  with ;  of  which  I  shall  presently  warn 
you  more  largely,  and  which  if  you  have  not  already 
experienced,  it  must  be  because  you  have  but  very 
lately  begun  to  think  of  religion. 

4.  Accordingly,  if  you  give  yourself  leave  to  con- 
sult Scripture  on  this  head,  (and  if  you  would  live 
like  a  Christian,  you  must  be  consulting  it  every 
day,  and  forming  your  notions  and  actions  by  it,)  you 

*  See  many  of  these  thoughts  much  more  largely  illustra- 
ted in  my  eighth  Sermon  on  Regeneration.     .  , 


214  CHRISTIAN    TEMPER    SOUGHT. 

will  see  that  the  whole  tenor  of  it  teaches  that  de- 
pendence upon  God  which  I  am  now  recommend- 
ing. You  will  particularly  see,  that  the  production 
of  religion  in  the  soul  is  matter  of  divine  promise ; 
that  when  it  has  been  effected,  Scripture  ascribes  it 
to  a  divine  agency;  and  that  the  increase  of  grace 
and  piety  in  the  heart  of  those  who  are  truly  regene- 
rate, is  also  spoken  of  as  the  word  of  God,  who  be- 
gins and  "carries  it  on  until  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ." 
Phil.  1:6. 

5.  In  consequence  of  all  these  views,  lay  it  down 
to  yourself  as  a  most  certain  principle,  that  no  attempt 
in  religion  is  to  be  made  in  your  own  strength.  If 
you  forget  this,  and  God  purposes  finally  to  save 
you,  he  will  humble  you  by  repeated  disappoint- 
ments, till  he  teach  you  better.  You  will  be  ashamed 
of  one  scheme  and  effort,  and  of  another,  till  you  set- 
tle upon  the  true  basis.  He  will  also  probably  show 
you,  not  only  in  the  general,  that  your  strength  is  to 
be  derived  from  heaven,  but  particularly  that  it  is 
the  office  of  the  blessed  Spirit  to  purify  the  heart, 
and  to  invigorate  holy  resolutions  ;  and  also  that,  in 
all  these  operations,  he  is  to  be  considered  as  the 
Spirit  of  Christ,  working  under  his  direction,  and  as 
a  vital  communication  from  him  under  the  character 
of  the  great  Head  of  the  Church,  the  grand  Trea- 
surer and  Dispenser  of  these  holy  and  beneficial  in- 
fluences. On  which  account  it  is  called  "the  supply 
of  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  Christ,"  (Phil.  1  :  19,)  who  is 


CHRISTIAN    TEMPER    SOUGHT.  215 

"  exalted  at  the  right  hand"  of  the  Father,  "  to  give 
repentance  and  remission  of  sins,"  (Acts,  5  :  31,) 
"in  whose  grace  alone  we  can  be  strong,"  (2  Tim. 
2:1,)  and  "  of  whose  fullness  we  receive  even  grace 
for  grace."    John,  J  :  16. 

6.  Resolve,  therefore,  strenuously  for  the  service 
of  God,  and  for  the  care  of  your  soul :  but  "  resolve 
modestly  and  humbly."  Even  "the  youths  shall 
faint  and  be  weary,  and  the  young  men  utterly  fall ; 
but  they  who  wait  on  the  Lord"  are  the  persons  who 
"renew  their  strength."  Isai.  40:  30,  31.  When 
a  soul  is  almost  afraid  to  declare,  in  the  presence  of 
the  Lord,  that  it  will  not  do  this  or  that,  which  has 
formerly  offended  him;  when  it  is  afraid  absolutely 
to  promise  that  it  will  perform  this  or  that  duty  with 
vigor  and  constancy,  but  only  expresses  its  humble 
and  earnest  desire  that  it  may  by  grace  be  enabled 
to  avoid  the  one  or  pursue  the  other  ;  then,  so  far  as 
my  observation  and  experience  have  reached,  it  is  in 
the  best  way  to  learn  the  happy  art  of  conquering 
temptation,  and  of  discharging  duty. 

7.  On  the  other  hand,  let  not  your  dependence 
upon  this  Spirit,  and  your  sense  of  your  own  weak- 
ness and  insufficiency  for  any  thing  spiritually  good, 
without  his  continual  aid,  discourage  you  from  de- 
voting yourself  to  God,  and  engaging  in  a  religious 
life,  considering  "  what  abundant  reason  you  have 
to  hope  that  these  gracious  influences  will  be  com- 
municated to  vou."    The  light  of  nature,  at  the  same 


216  CHRISTIAN    TEMPER    SOUGHT. 

time  that  it  teaches  the  need  we  have  of  help  from 
God  in  a  virtuous  course,  may  lead  us  to  conclude 
that  so  benevolent  a  Being,  who  bestows  on  the  most 
unworthy  and  careless  part  of  mankind  so  many 
blessings,  will  take  a  peculiar  pleasure  in  commu- 
nicating to  such  as  humbly  ask  them,  those  gracious 
assistances  which  may  form  their  deathless  souls 
into  his  own  resemblance,  and  fit  them  for  that  hap- 
piness to  which  their  rational  nature  is  suited,  and 
for  which  it  was  in  its  first  constitution  intended. 
The  word  of  God  will  much  more  abundantly  con- 
firm such  a  hope.  You  there  hear  divine  wisdom 
crying  even  to  those  who  had  long  trifled  with  her 
instructions,  "  Turn  ye  at  my  reproof,  and  I  will  pour 
out  my  Spirit  upon  you."  Prov  1 :  23.  You  hear 
the  apostle  saying,  "  Let  us  come  boldly  to  the  throne 
of  grace,  that  we  may  obtain  mercy,  and  find  grace 
to  help  in  every  time  of  need."  Heb.  4  :  16.  Yea, 
and  you  there  hear  our  Lord  himself  arguing  in  this 
sweet  and  convincing  manner :  "  If  ye,  being  evil, 
know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children, 
how  much  more  shall  your  heavenly  Father  give 
his  Holy  Spirit  unto  them  that  ask  him  ?"  Luke,  1 1  s 
13.  This  gift  and  promise  of  the  Spirit  was  given 
unto  Christ  when  he  ascended  up  on  high,  in  trust 
for  all  his  true  disciples.  God  hath  "  shed  it  abroad 
abundantly  upon  us  in  him."  Tit.  3 :  6.  And  I  may 
add,  that  the  very  desire  you  feel  after  the  farther 
communication  of  the  Spirit,  is  the  result  of  the  first 


CHRISTIAN    TEMPER    SOUGHT.  217 

fruits  of  it  already  given  ;  so  that  you  may,  with  pe- 
culiar propriety,  interpret  it  as  a  special  call  "  to 
open  your  mouth  wide,  that  he  may  fill  it."  Psalm 
81:  10.  You  thirst,  and  therefore  you  may  cheer- 
fully plead,  that  Jesus  has  "  invited  you  to  come  unto 
him  and  drink  ;"  with  a  promise  not  only  that  you 
shall  drink  if  you  come  unto  him,  but  also  that  "out 
of  your  belly  shall  flow,"  as  it  were,  "  rivers  of  living 
water,"  for  the  edification  and  refreshment  of  others. 
John,  7  :  37,  38. 

8.  Go  forth,  therefore,  with  humble  cheerfulness, 
to  the  prosecution  of  all  the  duties  of  the  Christian 
life.  Go  and  prosper  "  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord, 
making  mention  of  his  righteousness,  and  of  his 
only."  Psalm  71:  16.  And  as  a  token  of  farther 
communication,  may  your  heart  be  quickened  to  the 
most  earnest  desire  after  the  blessings  I  have  been 
now  recommending  to  your  pursuit !"  May  you  be 
stirred  up  to  pour  out  your  soul  before  God  in  such 
holy  breathings  as  these !  and  may  they  be  your 
daily  language  in  his  gracious  presence  ! 

An  humble  Supplication  for  the  Influences  of  Divine  Grace,  to 
form  and  strengthen  Religion  in  the  Soul. 

"  Blessed  God  !  I  sincerely  acknowledge  before 
thee  my  own  weakness  and  insufficiency  for  any 
thing  that  is  spiritually  good.  I  have  experienced 
it  a  thousand  times ;  and  yet  my  foolish  heart  would 
again  'trust  itself/  (Prov.  28:  26,)  and  form  resolu- 
19 


213  CHRISTIAN    TEMPER    SOUGHT. 

tions  in  its  own  strength.  But  let  this  be  the  first 
fruits  of  thy  gracious  influence  upon  it,  to  bring  it 
to  an  humble  distrust  of  itself,  and  to  a  repose  on 
thee! 

"  Abundantly  do  I  rejoice,  O  Lord,  in  the  kind 
assurances  which  thou  givest  me  of  thy  readiness  to 
bestow  liberally  and  richly  so  great  a  benefit.  I  do 
therefore,  according  to  thy  condescending  invitation, 
come  with  boldness  to  the  throne  of  grace,  that  I 
may  find  grace  to  help  in  every  time  of  need.  Heb. 
4:  16.  I  mean  not,  O  Lord  God,  to  turn  thy  grace 
into  wantonness  or  perverseness,  (Jude,  ver.  4,)  or 
to  make  my  weakness  an  excuse  for  negligence  and 
sloth.  I  confess  that  thou  hast  already  given  me 
more  strength  than  I  have  used  ;  and  I  charge  it 
upon  myself,  and  not  on  thee,  that  I  have  not  long 
since  received  still  more  abundant  supplies.  I  de- 
sire for  the  future  to  be  found  diligent  in  the  use  of 
all  appointed  means  ;  in  the  neglect  of  which  I  well 
know  that  petitions  like  these  would  be  a  profane 
mockery,  and  might  much  more  probably  provoke 
thee  to  take  away  what  I  have,  than  prevail  upon 
thee  to  impart  more.  But  firmly  resolving  to  exert 
myself  to  the  utmost,  I  earnestly  entreat  the  commu- 
nication of  thy  grace,  that  I  may  be  enabled  to  fulfill 
that  resolution. 

"  Be  surety,  0  Lord  !  unto  thy  servant  for  good. 
Psalm  119  :  122.  Be  pleased  to  shed  abroad  thy 
sanctifying  influences  on  my  soul,  to  form  me  for 


CHRISTIAN    TEMPER    SOUGHT.  219 

every  duty  thou  requirest.  Implant,  I  beseech  thee, 
every  grace  and  virtue  deep  in  my  heart,  and  main- 
tain the  happy  temper  in  the  midst  of  those  assaults 
from  within  and  from  without,  to  which  I  am  con- 
tinually liable  while  I  am  still  in  this  world  and  car- 
ry about  with  me  so  many  infirmities.  Fill  my 
breast,  I  beseech  thee,  with  good  affections  towards 
thee,  my  God,  and  towards  my  fellow-creatures.  Re- 
mind me  always  of  thy  presence,  and  may  I  remem- 
ber that  every  secret  sentiment  of  my  soul  is  open 
to  thee.  May  I  therefore  guard  against  the  first  ris- 
ings of  sin,  and  the  first  approaches  to  it ;  and  that 
Satan  may  not  find  room  for  his  evil  suggestions,  I 
earnestly  beg  that  thou,  Lord,  wouldst  fill  my  heart 
with  thine  Holy  Spirit,  and  take  up  thy  residence 
there.  Dwell  in  me,  and  walk  with  me,  (2  Cor  6 : 
16,)  and  let  my  body  be  the  temple  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.   1  Cor.  6 :  19. 

"  May  I  be  so  joined  to  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord,  as 
to  be  one  spirit  with  him,  (1  Cor.  6:  17,)  and  feel 
his  invigorating  influences  continually  bearing  me 
on,  superior  to  every  temptation,  and  to  every  cor- 
ruption j  that  while  the  youths  shall  faint  and  be 
weary,  and  the  young  men  utterly  fall,  I  may  so 
wait  upon  the  Lord  as  to  renew  my  strength,  (Isai. 
40 :  30,  31,)  and  may  go  on  from  one  degree  of  faith, 
and  love,  and  zeal,  and  holiness,  to  another,  till  I 
appear  perfect  before  thee  in  Zion,  (Psalm,  84 :  7,) 
to  drink  in  immortal  vigor  and  joy  from  thee,  as  the 


220  SPIRITUAL    DISCOURAGEMENTS. 

everlasting  fountain  of  both,  through  Jesus  Christ  my 
Lord,  in  whom  I  have  righteousness  and  strength, 
(Isai.  45  :  24,)  and  to  whom  I  desire  ever  to  ascribe 
the  praise  of  all  my  improvements  in  both.   Amen." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CONVERT  WARNED  OF,  AND  ANIMATED  AGAINST 
THOSE  DISCOURAGEMENTS  WHICH  HE  MUST  EXPECT  TO  MEET 
WHEN   ENTERING    ON   A    RELIGIOUS    COURSE. 

1.  Christ  has  instructed  his  disciples  to  expect  opposition  and 
difficulties  in  the  way  to  heaven. — 2.  Therefore  a  more  par- 
ticular view  of  them  is  taken,  as  arising— from  the  remainder 
of  indwelling  sin. — 3.  From  the  world,  and  especially  from, 
former  sinful  companions. — 4.  From  the  temptations  and  sug- 
gestions of  Satan. — 5.  6.  The  Christian  is  animated  and  en- 
couraged, by  various  considerations,  to  oppose  them ;  parti- 
cularly by  the  presence  of  God ;  the  aids  of  Christ ;  the  exam- 
ple of  others,  who,  though  feeble,  have  conquered ;  and  the 
crown  of  glory  to  be  expected. — 7.  Therefore,  though  apostacy 
be  infinitely  fatal,  the  Christian  may  press  on  cheerfully.  Ac- 
cordingly the  soul)  alarmed  by  these  views,  is  represented  as 
committing  itself  to  God,  in  the  prayer  which  concludes  the 
chapter. 

1.  With  the  utmost  propriety  has  our  Divine 
Master  reqiured  us  "to  strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait 


SPIRITUAL    DISCOURAGEMENTS.  221 

grnte,"  (Luke,  13:  23,)  thereby  intimating,  not  only 
that  the  passage  is  narrow,  but  that  it  is  beset  with 
enemies ;  beset  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left 
with  enemies  cunning  and  formidable.  And  be  as- 
sured, O  reader  !  that  whatever  your  circumstances 
in  life  are,  you  must  meet  and  encounter  them.  It 
will  therefore  be  your  prudence  to  survey  them  at- 
tentively in  your  own  reflections,  that  you  may  see 
what  you  are  to  expect ;  and  may  consider  in  what 
armor  it  is  necessary  you  shall  be  clothed,  and  with 
what  weapons  you  must  be  furnished  to  manage  the 
combat.  You  have  often  heard  them  marshalled,  as 
it  were,  under  three  great  leaders,  the  flesh,  the 
world,  and  the  devil ;  and,  according  to  this  distri- 
bution, I  would  call  you  to  consider  the  forces  of 
each,  as  setting  themselves  in  array  against  you.  O 
that  you  may  be  excited  "  to  take  to  yourself  the 
whole  armor  of  God,"  (Eph.  6  :  13,)  and  to  "  acquit 
yourself  like  a  man,"  and  a  Christian !  1  Cor.  16  :  13. 
2.  Let  your  conscience  answer,  whether  do  you 
not  carry  about  with  you  a  corrupt  and  degenerate 
nature  ?  You  will,  I  doubt  not,  feel  its  effects.  You 
will  feel,  in  the  language  of  the  apostle,  who  speaks 
of  it  as  the  case  of  Christians  themselves,  "  the  flesh 
lusting  against  the  spirit,  so  that  you  will  not  be 
able,"  in  all  instances,  "to  do  the  things  that  you 
would."  Gal.  5:17.  You  brought  irregular  pro- 
pensities into  the  world  along  with  you;  and  you 
have  so  often  indulged  those  sinful  inclinations,  that 
19* 


222  PIRITUAL    DISCOURAGEMENTS. 

you  have  greatly  increased  their  strength ;  and  you 
will  find,  in  consequence  of  it,  that  these  habits  can- 
not be  broken  through  without  great  difficulty.  You 
will,  no  doubt,  often  recollect  the  strong  figures  in 
which  the  prophet  describes  a  case  like  yours ;  and 
you  will  own  that  it  is  justly  represented  by  that 
"  of  an  Ethiopian  changing  his  skin,  and  the  leopard 
his  spots."  Jer.  13  :  23.  It  is  indeed  possible,  that, 
at  first,  you  may  find  such  an  edge  and  eagerness 
upon  your  spirits,  as  may  lead  you  to  imagine  that 
all  opposition  will  immediately  fall  before  you.  But, 
alas  !  I  fear  that  in  a  little  time  these  enemies,  which 
seemed  to  be  slain  at  your  feet,  will  revive,  and  re- 
cover their  weapons,  and  renew  the  assault  in  one 
form  or  another.  And  perhaps  your  most  painful 
combats  may  be  with  such  as  you  had  thought  most 
easy  to  be  vanquished;  and  your  greatest  danger 
may  arise  from  some  of  those  enemies  from  whom 
you  apprehended  the  least,  particularly  from  pride 
and  from  indolence  of  spirit;  from  a  secret  aliena- 
tion of  heart  from  God,  and  from  an  indisposition 
for  conversing  with  him,  through  an  immoderate  at- 
tachment to  "  things  seen  and  temporal,"  which  may 
be  oftentimes  exceedingly  dangerous  to  your  salva- 
tion, though  perhaps  they  be  not  absolutely  and  uni- 
versally prohibited.  In  a  thousand  of  these  instances 
you  must  learn  to  deny  yourself,  or  you  "  cannot  be 
Christ's  disciple."   Matt.  16  :  24. 

3.   You  must  also  lay  your  account  to  find  great 


SPIRITUAL    DISCOURAGEMENTS.  223 

difficulties  from  the  world,  from  its  manners,  cus- 
toms, and  examples.  The  things  of  the  world  will 
hinder  you  one  way,  and  the  men  of  the  world  ano- 
ther. Perhaps  you  may  meet  with  much  less  assist- 
ance in  religion  than  you  are  now  ready  to  expect 
from  good  men.  The  present  generation  of  them  is 
generally  so  cautious  to  avoid  every  thing  that  looks 
like  ostentation,  and  there  seems  something  so  in- 
supportably  dreadful  in  the  charge  of  enthusiasm, 
that  you  will  find  most  of  your  Christian  brethren 
studying  to  conceal  their  virtue  and  their  piety,  much 
more  than  others  study  to  conceal  their  vices  and 
their  profaneness.  But  while,  unless  your  situation 
be  singularly  happy,  you  meet  with  very  little  aid 
one  way,  you  will,  no  doubt,  find  great  opposition 
another.  The  enemies  of  religion  will  be  bold  and 
active  in  their  assaults,  while  many  of  its  friends 
seem  unconcerned  ;  and  one  sinner  will  probably  ex- 
ert himself  more  to  corrupt  you,  than  ten  Christians 
to  secure  and  save  you.  They  who  have  been  once 
your  companions  in  sin,  will  try  a  thousand  artful 
methods  to  allure  you  back  again  to  their  forsaken 
society  :  some  of  them  perhaps  with  an  appearance 
of  tender  fondness,  and  many  more  by  the  almost 
irresistible  art  of  ridicule :  that  boasted  test  of  right 
and  wrong,  as  it  has  been  wantonly  called,  will  be 
tried  upon  you,  perhaps  without  any  regard  to  de- 
cency, or  even  to  common  humanity.  You  will  be 
derided  and  insulted  by  those  whose  esteem  and  af« 


224  SPIRITUAL    DISCOURAGEMENTS. 

fection  you  naturally  desire;  and  may  find  much 
more  propriety  than  you  imagine,  in  that  expression 
of  the  apostle,  "the  trial  of  cruel  moekings,"  (Heb. 
9  :  36,)  which  some  fear  more  than  either  sword 
or  flames.  This  persecution  of  the  tongue  you  must 
expect  to  go  through,  and  perhaps  may  be  branded 
as  a  lunatic,  for  no  other  cause  than  that  you  now 
begin  to  exercise  your  reason  to  purpose,  and  will 
not  join  with  those  that  are  destroying  their  own 
souls  in  their  wild  career  of  folly  and  madness. 

4.  And  it  is  not  at  all  improbable,  that  in  the 
meantime  Satan  may  be  doing  his  utmost  to  dis- 
courage and  distress  you.  He  will,  no  doubt,  raise 
in  your  imagination  the  most  tempting  idea  of  the 
gratifications,  the  indulgences,  and  the  companions 
you  are  obliged  to  forsake ;  and  give  you  the  most 
discouraging  and  terrifying  view  of  the  difficulties, 
severities,  and  dangers,  which  are,  as  he  will  per- 
suade you,  inseparable  from  religion.  He  will  not 
fail  to  represent  God  himself,  the  fountain  of  good- 
ness and  happiness,  as  a  hard  Master,  whom  it  is 
impossible  to  please.  He  will  perhaps  fill  you  with 
the  most  distressful  fears,  and,  with  cruel  and  inso- 
lent malice,  glory  over  you  as  his  slave,  when  he 
knows  you  are  the  Lord's  freeman.  At  one  time  he 
will  study,  by  his  vile  suggestions,  to  interrupt  you 
in  your  duties,  as  if  they  gave  him  an  additional 
power  over  you.  At  another  time  he  will  endeavor 
to  weary  you  of  your  devotion,  by  influencing  you 


SPIRITUAL    DISCOURAGEMENTS.  225 

to  prolong-  it  to  an  immoderate  and  tedious  length, 
lest  his  power  should  be  exerted  upon  you  when  it 
ceases.    In  short,  this  practiced  deceiver  has  artifices 
which  it  would  require  whole  volumes  to  display, 
with  particular  cautions  against  each.    And  he  will 
follow  you  with  malicious  arts  and  pursuits  to  the 
very  end  of  your  pilgrimage,  and  will  leave  no  me- 
thod unattempted  which  may  be  likely  to  weaken 
your  hands  and  to  sadden  your  heart,  that  if,  through 
the  gracious  interposition  of  God,  he  cannot  prevent 
your  final  happiness,  he  may  at  least  impair  your 
peace  and  your  usefulness  as  you  are  passing  to  it. 
5.  This  is  what  the  people  of  God  feel,  and  what 
you  will  feel  in  some  degree  or  other,  if  you  have 
your  lot  and  portion  among  them.    But,  after  all, 
be  not  discouraged  :   Christ  is  the  "  Captain  of  your 
salvation."   Heb.  2:10.    It  is  delightful  to  consider 
him  under  this  view.     When  we  take  a  survey  of 
these  host  of  enemies,  we   may  lift  up  our  head 
amidst  them  all,  and  say,  "  More  and  greater  is  he 
that  is  with  us,  than  all  those  that  are  against  us." 
2  Kings,  6  :  16.    "  Trust  in  the  Lord,  and  you  will 
be  like  Mount  Zion,  which  cannot  be  removed,  but 
abideth  for  ever."  Psalm  125:  1.  When  your'ene- 
mies  press  upon  you,  remember  you  are  to  "fight  in 
the  presence  of  God."    Zech.  10  :   5.    Endeavor, 
therefore,  to  act  a  gallant  and  a  resolute  part;  en- 
deavor to  "  resist  them  steadfast  in  the  faith."  1  Pet. 
5  :  9.  Remember,  "  He  can  give  power  to  the  faint, 


226  SPIRITUAL    DISCOURAGEMENTS. 

and  increase  strength  to  them  that  have  no  might." 
Isaiah,  40  :  29.  He  hath  done  it  in  ten  thousand  in- 
stances •  already,  and  he  will  do  it  in  ten  thousand 
more.  How  many  striplings  have  conquered  their 
gigantic  foes  in  all  their  most  formidable  armor, 
when  they  have  gone  forth  against  them,  though  but 
as  it  were  "with  a  staff  and  a  sling,  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord  God  of  Israel  I"  1  Sam.  17  :  40—45.  How 
many  women  and  children  have  trodden  down  the 
force  of  the  enemy,  "  and  out  of  weakness  have  been 
made  strong!"  Heb.  11:  34. 

6.  Amidst  all  the  opposition  of  earth  and  hell, 
look  upward  and  look  forward,  and  you  will  feel 
your  heart  animated  by  the  view.  Your  General  is 
near ;  he  is  near  to  aid  you,  he  is  near  to  reward 
you.  When  you  feel  the  temptation  press  the  hard- 
est, think  of  him  who  endured  even  the  cross  itself 
for  your  rescue.  View  the  fortitude  of  your  Divine 
Leader,  and  endeavor  to  march  on  in  his  steps. 
Hearken  to  his  voice,  for  he  proclaims  it  aloud, 
"  Behold,  I  come  quickly,  and  my  reward  is  with 
me."  Rev.  22:  12.  "Be  thou  faithful  unto  death, 
and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life."  Rev.  2:10. 
And,  oh  !  how  bright  will  it  shine  !  and  how  long 
will  its  lustre  last !  When  the  gems  that  adorn  the 
crowns  of  monarchs,  and  pass  (instructive  thought!) 
from  one  royal  head  to  another  through  succeeding 
centuries,  are  melted  down  in  the  last  flame,  it  is  "  a 
crown  of  glory  which  fadeth  not  away."  1  Pet.  5  :  4. 


SPIRITUAL    ADVERSARIES.  227 

I 

7  It  is  indeed  true,  "  that  such  as  turn  aside  to 
crooked  paths"  will  be  "led  forth  with  the  workers 
of  iniquity,"  to  that  terrible  execution  which  divine 
justice  is  preparing  for  them,  (Psalm  125  :  5,)  and 
it  would  have  been  "better  for  them  not  to  have 
known  the  way  of  righteousness,  than,  after  having 
known  it,  to  turn  aside  from  the  holy  command- 
ment." 2  Pet.  2  :  21.  But  I  would,  by  divine  grace, 
"hope  better  things  of  you."  Heb.  6  :  9.  And  I 
make  it  my  hearty  prayer  for  you,  my  reader,  that 
you  may  be  "  kept  by  the  mighty  power  of  God," 
kept,  as  in  a  garrison  on  all  sides  fortified  in  the  se- 
curest manner,  "  through  faith,  unto  salvation." 

The  Soul,  alarmea,  by  a  sense  of  these  difficulties,  committing 
itself  to  Divine  Protection. 

"  Blessed  God  !  it  is  to  thine  Almighty  power  that 
I  flee.  Behold  me  surrounded  with  difficulties  and 
dangers,  and  stretch  out  thine  omnipotent  arm  to 
save  me,  '  O  thou  that  savest  by  thy  right  hand  them 
that  put  their  trust  in  thee,  from  those  that  rise  up 
against  them.'  Psalm  17:  7.  This  day  do  I  solemn- 
ly put  myself  under  thy  protection :  exert  thy  power 
in  my  favor,  and  permit  me  ■  to  make  the  shadow  of 
thy  wings  my  refuge.'  Psalm  57  :  1.  Let  '  thy  grace 
be  sufficient  for  me,'  and  'thy  strength  be  made  per- 
fect in  my  weakness.'  2  Cor.  12:9.  I  dare  not  say, 
'  I  will  never  forsake  thee,  I  will  never  deny  thee ;' 


228  SPIRITUAL    ADVERSARIES. 

(Mark,  14  :  31,)  but  I  hope  I  can  truly  say,  O  Lord, 
I  would  not  do  it ;  and  according  to  my  present  ap- 
prehension and  purpose,  death  would  appear  to  me 
much  less  terrible,  than  in  any  willful  and  deliberate 
instance  to  offend  thee.  O  root  out  those  corruptions 
from  my  heart,  which  in  an  hour  of  pressing  temp- 
tation might  incline  me  to  view  things  in  a  different 
light,  and  so  might  betray  me  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy !  Strengthen  my  faith,  O  Lord,  and  encou- 
rage my  hope  !  Inspire  me  with  heroic  resolution  in 
opposing  every  thing  that  lies  in  my  way  to  heaven  ; 
and  let  me  'set  my  face  like  a  flint'  against  all  the 
assaults  of  earth  and  hell !  Isaiah,  50  :  7.  4  If  sin- 
ners entice  me,  let  me  not  consent;'  (Prov.  1  :  10.) 
if  they  insult  me,  let  me  not  regard  it ;  if  thev 
threaten  me,  let  me  not  fear  !  Rather  may  a  holy 
and  ardent,  yet  prudent  and  well-governed  zeal,  take 
occasion  from  that  malignity  of  heart  which  they 
discover,  to  attempt  their  conviction  and  reforma- 
tion! At  least,  let  me  never  be  ashamed  to  plead  thy 
cause  against  the  most  profane  deriders  of  religion  ! 
'  Make  me  to  hear  joy  and  gladness'  in  my  soul, 
and  I  will  endeavor  to  •  teach  transgressors  thy  ways, 
that  sinners  maybe  converted  unto  thee  !'  Psalm  51  : 
8,  13.  Yea.  Lord,  while  my  fears  continue,  though 
I  should  apprehend  myself  condemned,  I  am  con. 
demned  so  righteously  for  my  own  folly,  that  I 
would  be  thine  advocate,  though  against  myself. 
"  Keep  me,  O  Lord,  now,  and  at  all  times  !   Never 


SPIRITUAL    ADVERSARIES,  229 

let  me  think,  whatever  age  or  station  I  attain,  that  I 
am  strong  enough  to  maintain  the  combat  without 
thee !  Nor  let  me  imagine  myself)  even  in  this  in- 
fancy of  religion  in  my  soul,  so  weak  that  thou  canst 
not  support  me!  Wherever  thou  teadest  me,  there 
let  me  follow  ;  and  whatever  station  thou  appointest 
me,  there  let  me  labor :  there  let  me  maintain  the 
holy  war  against  all  the  enemies  of  my  salvation, 
and  rather  fall  in  it,  than  basely  abandon  it. 

"And  thou,  0  glorious  Redeemer,  'the  Captain 
of  my  salvation,'  the  great  « Author  and  Finisher  of 
my  faith,'  (Heb.  12  :  2,)  when  I  am  in  danger  of 
denying  thee,  as  Peter  did,  look  upon  me  with  that 
mixture  of  majesty  and  tenderness,  (Luke,  22:  61,) 
which  may  either  secure  me  from  falling,  or  may 
speedily  recover  me  to  God  and  my  duty  again  f 
and  teach  me  to  take  occasion,  even  from  my  mis- 
carriages, to  humble  myself  more  deeply  for  all  that 
has  been  amiss,  and  to  redouble  my  future  diligence 
and  caution!  Amen." 
20 


230  SELF-DEDICATION    URGED. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 


THE    CHRISTIAN   CRGSD   TO,    AND    ASSISTED     IN,    AN   EXPRESS   ACT 
OP   SELF-DEDICATION   TO    THE   SERVICE    OF   GOD. 

1.  The  advantages  of  such  a  surrender  are  briefly  suggested. — 
2,  3,  4.  Advice  for  the  manner  of  doing  it ;  thai  it  be  delibe- 
rate, cheerful,  entire,  perpetual. — 5.  And  that  it  be  expressed 
with  some  affecting  solemnity. — 6.  A  written  instrument  to 
be  signed  and  declared  before  God,  at  some  season  of  extra- 
ordinary devotion,  proposed.  The  chapter  concludes  with  a 
specimen  of  such  an  instrument,  together  with  an  abstract  of 
it,  to  be  used  with  proper  and  requisite  alterations. 

1.  As  I  would  hope,  that,  notwithstanding  all  the 
forms  of  opposition  which  do  or  may  arise,  yet  in 
consideration  of  those  noble  supports  and  motives 
which  have  been  mentioned  in  the  two  preceding 
chapters,  you  are  heartily  determined  for  the  service 
of  God,  I  would  now  urge  you  to  make  a  solemn  sur- 
render of  yourself  unto  it.  Do  not  only  form  such  a 
purpose  in  your  heart,  but  expressly  declare  it  in  the 
divine  presence.  Such  solemnity  in  the  manner  of 
doing  it  is  certainly  very  reasonable  in  the  nature  of 
things  ;  and  surely  it  is  ixighly  expedient  for  binding 
to  the  Lord  such  a  treacherous  heart  as  we  know 
our  own  to  be.  It  will  be  ploasant  to  reflect  upon  it. 


SELF-DEDICATION    URGED.  231 

as  done  at  such  and  such  a  time,  with  such  and  such 
circumstances  of  place  and  method,  which  may  serve 
to  strike  the  memory  and  the  conscience.  The  sense 
of  the  vows  of  God  which  are  upon  you,  will 
strengthen  you  in  an  hour  of  tenptation ;  and  the 
recollection  may  also  encourage  your  humble  bold- 
ness and  freedom  in  applying  to  him,  under  the  cha- 
racter and  relation  of  your  Covenant  God  and  Father, 
as  future  exigencies  may  require. 

2.  Do  it  therefore ;  but  do  it  deliberately.  Consi- 
der what  it  is  that  you  are  to  do.  and  consider  how 
reasonable  it  is  that  it  should  be  done,  and  done  cor- 
dially and  cheerfully ;  "  not  by  constraint,  but  wil- 
lingly," (1  Peter,  5  :  2,)  for  in  this  sense,  and  in 
every  other,  "  God  loves  a  cheerful  giver."  2  Cor. 
9 :  7.  Now  surely  there  is  no:hing  we  should  do 
with  greater  cheerfulness  or  more  cordial  consent, 
than  making  such  a  surrender  of  ourselves  to  the 
Lord,  to  the  God  who  created  us,  who  brought  us 
into  this  pleasant  and  well-furnished  world,  who 
supported  us  in  our  tender  infancy,  who  guarded  us 
in  the  thoughtless  days  of  childhood  and  youth,  who 
has  hitherto  continually  helped,  sustained,  and  pre- 
served us.  Nothing  can  be  more  reasonable  than 
that  we  should  acknowledge  him  as  our  rightful 
owner,  and  our  Sovereign  Ruler ;  than  that  we  should 
devote  ourselves  to  him  as  our  most  gracious  Bene- 
factor, and  seek  him  as  our  supreme  felicity.  No- 
thing can  be  more  apparently  equitable  than  that  we, 


232  SELF-DEDICATION    URGED.. 

the  product  of  his  power,  and  the  price  of  his  Son's 
blood,  should  be  his,  and  his  for  ever.  If  you  see 
the  matter  in  its  just  view,  it  will  be  the  grief  of  your 
soul  that  you  have  ever  alienated  yourself  from  the 
blessed  God  and  his  service  :  so  far  will  you  be  from 
wishing  to  continue  in  that  state  of  alienation  an- 
other year,  or  another  day,  you  will  rejoice  to  bring 
back  to  him  his  revolted  creature ;  and  as  you  have 
in  times  past  "  yielded  your  members  as  instruments 
of  unrighteousness  unto  sin,"  you  will  delight  to 
"yield  yourselves  unto  God  as  alive  from  the  dead," 
and  to  employ  "  your  members  as  instruments  of 
righteousness  unto  God."    Rom.  6:  13. 

3.  The  surrender  will  also  be  as  entire  as  it  is 
cheerful  and  immediate.  All  you  are,  and  all  you 
have,  and  all  you  can  do,  your  time,  your  possessions, 
your  influence  over  others,  will  be  devoted  to  him, 
that  for  the  future  it  may  be  employed  entirely  for 
him,  and  to  his  glory.  You  will  desire  to  keep 
back  nothing  from  him  ;  but  will  seriously  judge 
that  you  are  then  in  the  truest  and  noblest  sense 
your  own,  when  you  are  most  entirely  his.  You 
are  also,  on  this  great  occasion,  to  resign  all  that 
you  have  to  the  disposal  of  his  wise  and  gracious 
providence ;  not  only  owning  his  power,  but  con- 
senting to  his  undoubted  right  to  do  what  he  pleases 
with  you,  and  all  that  he  has'given  you  ;  and  declar- 
ing a  hearty  approbation  of  all  that  he  has  done,  and 
of  all  that  he  may  farther  do. 


SELF-DEDICATION    URGED.  233 

4.  Once  more,  let  me  remind  you  that  this  sur- 
render must  be  perpetual.  You  must  give  yourself 
up  to  God  in  such  a  manner  as  never  more  to  pre- 
tend to  be  your  own ;  for  the  rights  of  God  are,  like 
his  nature,  eternal  and  immutable ;  and  with  regard 
to  his  rational  creatures,  are  the  same  yesterday,  to- 
day, and  for  ever. 

5.  I  would  farther  advise  and  urge  that  this  dedi- 
cation may  be  made  with  all  possible  solemnity.  Do 
it  in  express  words.  And  perhaps  it  may  be  in  many 
cases  most  expedient,  as  many  pious  divines  have 
recommended,  to  do  it  in  writing.  Set  your  hand 
and  seal  to  it,  "  that  on  such  a  day  of  such  a  month 
and  year,  and  at  such  a  place,  on  full  consideration 
and  serious  reflection,  you  came  to  this  happy  reso- 
lution, that,  whatsoever  others  might  do,  you  would 
serve  the  Lord."  Josh.  24:  15. 

6.  Such  an  instrument  you  may,  if  you  please, 
draw  up  for  yourself;  or,  if  you  rather  choose  to 
have  it  drawn  up  to  your  hand,  you  may  find  some- 
thing of  this  nature  below,  in  which  you  may  easily 
make  such  alterations  as  shall  suit  your  circum- 
stances, where  there  is  any  thing  peculiar  in  them. 
But  whatever  you  use,  weigh  it  well,  meditate  atten- 
tively upon  it,  that  you  may  "not  be  rash  with  your 
mouth  to  utter  any  thing  before  God."  Eccl.  5 :  2. 
And  when  you  determine  to  execute  this  instrument, 
let  the  transaction  be  attended  with  some  more  than 
ordinary  religious  retirement.     Make  it,  if  you  con- 

20* 


234  FORM    OF    SELF-DEDICATION. 

veniently  can,  a  day  of  secret  fasting  and  prayer; 
and  when  your  heart  is  prepared  with  a  becoming 
awe  of  the  Divine  Majesty,  with  an  humble  confi- 
dence in  his  goodness,  and  an  earnest  desire  of  his 
favor,  then  present  yourself  on  your  knees  before 
God,  and  read  it  over  deliberately  and  solemnly ; 
and  when  you  have  signed  it,  lay  it  by  in  some  se- 
cure place,  where  you  may  review  it  whenever  you 
please ;  and  make  it  a  rule  with  yourself  to  review 
it,  if  possible,  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  that 
you  may  keep  up  the  remembrance  of  it.  And  God 
grant  that  you  may  be  enabled  to  keep  it,  and  in  the 
whole  of  your  conversation  to  walk  according  to  it. 
May  it  be  an  anchor  to  your  soul  in  every  tempta- 
tion, and  a  cordial  to  it  in  every  affliction.  May  the 
recollection  of  it  embolden  your  addresses  to  the 
throne  of  grace  now,  and  give  additional  strength  to 
your  departing  spirit,  in  a  consciousness  that  it  is 
ascending  to  your  covenant  God  and  Father,  and  to 
that  gracious  Redeemer,  whose  power  and  faithful- 
ness will  securely  "  keep  what  you  commit  to  him 
unto  that  day."  2  Tim.  1  :  J  2. 

An  Example  of  Self-Dedication. 

"Eternal  and  unchangeable  Jehovah  !  thou  great 
Creator  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  adorable  Lord  of 
angels  and  men,  I  desire,  with  the  deepest  humilia- 
tion and  abasement  of  soul,  to  fall  down  at  this  time 


FORM    OF    SELF-DEDICATION.  235 

in  thine  awful  presence,  and  earnestly  qray  that 
thou  wilt  penetrate  my  heart  with  a  suitable  sense 
of  thine  unutterable  and  inconceivable  glories. 

"  Trembling  may  justly  take  hold  upon  me,  (Job, 
20 :  6,)  when  I,  a  sinful  worm,  presume  to  lift  up 
my  head  to  thee,  presume  to  appear  in  thy  majestic 
presence  on  such  an  occasion  as  this.  Who  am  I, 
O  Lord  God  !  or  what  is  my  house?  What  is  my 
nature  or  descent,  my  character  and  desert,  that  I 
should  thus  address  the  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of 
lords  !   I  blush  and  am  confounded  before  thee.  But, 

0  Lord  I  great  as  is  thy  majesty,  so  also  is  thy  mer- 
cy. If  thou  wilt  hold  converse  with  any  of  thy  crea- 
tures, thy  superlatively  exalted  nature  must  stoop, 
must  stoop  infinitely  low.  And  I  know,  tLat  in  and 
through  Jesus,  the  Son  of  thy  love,  thou  condescend- 
est  to  visit  sinful  mortals,  and  to  allow  their  ap- 
proach to  thee,  and  their  covenant  intercourse  with 
thee ;  nay,  I  know  that  the  scheme  and  plan  is  thine 
own,  and  that  thou  hast  graciously  sent  to  propose 
it  to  us  ;  as  none  untaught  by  thee  would  have  been 
able  to  form  it,  or  inclined  to  embrace  it,  even  when 
actually  proposed. 

"  To  thee  therefore  do  I  now  come,  invited  by  the 
name  of  thy  Son,  and  trusting  in  his  righteousness 
gnd  gTace.  Laying  myself  at  thy  feet,  •  with  shame 
and  confusion  of  face,'  and  «  smiting  upon  my  breast,' 

1  say,  with  the  humble  publican,  '  God  be  merciful 
to  me  a  sinner!'  Luke,  18:  13.    I  acknowledge,  O 


236  FORM    OF    SELF-DEDICATION. 

Lord  !  that  I  have  been  a  great  transgressor.    '  My 
sins  have  reached  unto  heaven,'  (Rev.  18:  5,)  and 
1  my  iniquities  are  lifted  up  unto  the  skies.'  Jer.  51 : 
9.    The  irregular  propensities  of  my  corrupted  and 
degenerated  nature  have,  in  ten  thousand  aggrava- 
ted  instances,   'wrought  to  bring  forth  fruit  unto 
death.'  Rom.  8  :  5.    And  if  thou  shouldst  be  strict 
to  mark  my  offences,  I  must  be  silent  under  a  load 
of  guilt,  and  immediately  sink  into  destruction.  But 
thou  hast  graciously  called  me  to  return  unto  thee, 
though  I  have  been  a  wandering  sheep,  a  prodigal 
son,  a  backsliding  child.  Jer.  3  :  22    Behold,  there- 
fore, O  Lord  !  I  come  unto  thee.    I  come,  convinced 
not  only  of  my  sin,  but  of  my  folly.    I  come,  from 
my  very  heart  ashamed  of  myself,  and  with  an  ac- 
knowledgment, in  the  sincerity  and  humility  of  my 
soul,  that  '  I  have  played  the  fool,  and  have  erred 
exceedingly.'   1   Sam.   26  :  21.    I  am   confounded 
myself  at  the  remembrance  of  these  things ;  but  be 
thou  '  merciful  to  my  unrighteousness,  and  do  not 
remember  against  me  my  sins  and  my  transgres- 
sions !'  Heb.  8  :  12.    Permit  me,  O  Lord,  to  bring 
back  unto  thee  those  powers  and  faculties  which  I 
have  ungratefully  and  sacrilegiously  alienated  from 
thy  service ;  and  receive,  I  beseech  thee,  thy  poor 
revolted  creature,  who  is  now  convinced  of  thy  right 
to  him,  and  desires  nothing  in  the  whole  world  so 
much  as  to  be  thine  ! 
"  Blessed  God  !  it  is  with  the  utmost  solemnity  that 


FORM    OF    SELF-DEDICATION.  237 

I  make  this  surrender  of  myself  unto  thee.    «  Hear, 

0  heavens !  and  give  ear,  O  earth  !  I  avouch  the 
Lord  this  day  to  be  my  God,  (Deut.  26:  17,)  and  I 
avouch  and  declare  myself  this  day  to  be  one  of  his 
covenant  children  and  people.  Hear,  O  thou  God 
of  heaven  !  and  record  it  in  the  book  of  thy  remem- 
brance,' (Mat.  3:  16,)  that  henceforth  I  am  thine, 
entirely  thine.  I  would  not  merely  consecrate  unto 
thee  some  of  my  powers,  or  some  of  my  possessions, 
or  give  thee  a  certain  proportion  of  my  services,  or 
all  I  am  capable  of  for  a  limited  time ;  but  I  would 
be  wholly  thine,  and  thine  for  ever.    From  this  day 

1  would  solemnly  renounce  all  the  'former  lords 
which  have  had  dominion  over  me,'  (Isai.  26:  13,) 
every  sin  and  every  lust ;  and  bid,  in  thy  name,  an 
eternal  defiance  to  the  powers  of  hell,  which  have 
most  unjustly  usurped  the  empire  over  my  soul,  and 
to  all  the  corruptions  which  their  fatal  temptations 
have  introduced  into  it.  The  whole  frame  of  my 
nature,  all  the  faculties  of  my  mind,  and  all  the  mem- 
bers of  my  body,  would  I  present  before  thee  this 
day,  '  as  a  living  sacrifice,  holy  and  acceptable  unto 
Grod,  which  '  I  know  to  be  '  my  most  reasonable  ser- 
vice.' Rom.  12:  1.  To  thee  I  consecrate  all  my 
v.-orldly  possessions  :  in  thy  service  I  desire  to  spend 
a  11  the  remainder  of  my  time  upon  earth,  and  beg  thou 
wouldst  instruct  and  influence  me,  so  that,  whether 
my  abode  here  be  longer  or  shorter,  every  year  and 
month,  every  day  and  hour,  may  be  used  in  such  a 


238  FORM    OF    SELF-DEDICATION*. 

manner  as  shall  most  effectually  promote  thine  honor, 
and  subserve  the  designs  of  thy  wise  and  gracious 
providence.  And  I  earnestly  pray,  that,  whatever 
influence  thou  givest  me  over  others,  in  any  of  the 
superior  relations  of  life  in  which  I  may  stand,  or 
in  consequence  of  any  peculiar  regard  which  may 
be  paid  to  me,  thou  wouldst  give  me  the  strength 
and  courage  to  exert  myself  to  the  utmost  for  thy 
glory ;  resolving  not  only  that  I  will  myself  do  ft, 
but  that  all  others,  so  far  as  I  can  rationally  and  pro- 
perly influence  them,  ■  shall  serve  the  Lord.'  Jos.i- 
24:  15.  In  this  course,  O  blessed  God!  would  I 
steadily  persevere  to  the  very  end  of  life  ;  earnestly- 
praying,  that  every  future  day  of  it  may  supply  the 
deficiencies  and  correct  the  irregularities  of  the  far- 
mer ;  and  that  I  may,  by  divine  grace,  be  enabled 
not  only  to  hold  on  in  that  happy  way,  but  daily  to 
grow  more  active  in  it ! 

"  Nor  do  I  only  consecrate  all  that  I  am  and  hare 
to  thy  service,  but  I  also  most  humbly  resign,  ard 
submit  to  thy  holy  and  sovereign  will,  myself,  and 
all  that  I  can  call  mine.  I  leave,  O  Lord !  to  thy 
management  and  direction,  all  I  possess,  and  all  I 
wish;  and  set  every  enjoyment  and  every  interest 
before  thee,  to  be  disposed  of  as  thou  pleasest.  Con- 
tinue or  remove  what  thou  hast  given  me ;  bestow 
or  refuse  what  I  imagine  I  want,  as  thou,  Lord,  shalt 
see  good  !  And  though  I  dare  not  say  I  will  never 
repine,  yet  I  hope  I  may  venture  to  say,  that  I  will 


FORM    OF    SELF-DEDICATION.  239 

labor  not  only  to  submit,  but  to  acquiesce;  not  only 
to  bear  what  thou  doest  in  thy  most  afflictive  dispen- 
sations, but  to  consent  to  it,  and  to  praise  thee  for  it ; 
contentedly  resolving,  in  all  thou  appointest  for  me, 
my  will  into  thine,  and  looking  on  myself  as  nothing, 
and  on  thee,  O  God !  as  the  great  eternal  all, 
whose  word  ought  to  determine  every  thing,  and 
whose  government  ought  to  be  the  joy  of  the  whole 
rational  creation. 

"  Use  me,  O  Lord  !  I  beseech  thee,  as  the  instru- 
ment of  thy  glory ;  and  honor  me  so  far,  as,  either 
by  doing  or  suffering  what  thou  shalt  appoint,  to 
bring  some  revenue  of  praise  to  thee,  and  of  benefit 
to  the  world  in  which  I  dwell !  And  may  it  please 
thee,  from  this  day  forward,  to  number  me  among 
thy  peculiar  people !  that  I  may  '  no  more  be  a 
stranger  and  foreigner,  but  a  fellow-citizen  with  the 
saints,  and  of  the  household  of  God  !'  Eph.  2  :  19. 
Receive,  O  heavenly  Father !  thy  returning  prodi- 
gal !  Wash  me  in  the  blood  of  thy  dear  Son  ;  clothe 
me  with  his  perfect  righteousness  ;  and  sanctify  me 
throughout  by  the  power  of  thy  Spirit!  Destroy,  I 
beseech  thee,  more  and  more  the  power  of  sin  in  my 
heart !  Transform  me  more  into  thine  own  image, 
and  fashion  me  to  the  resemblance  of  Jesus,  whom 
henceforward  I  would  acknowledge  as  my  teacher 
and  sacrifice,  my  intercessor  and  my  Lord!  Com- 
municate to  me,  I  beseech  thee,  all  needful  influen- 
ces of  thy  purifying,  thy  cheering,  and  thy  comfort- 


240  FORM    OF    SELF-DEDICATION. 

ing  Spirit !  And  lift  up  that '  light  of  thy  countenance 
upon  me,'  which  will  put  the  sublimest  joy  and 
'  gladness  into  my  soul.'  Psalm  4  :  6,  7. 

"  Dispose  my  affairs,  O  God  !  in  a  manner  which 
may  be  most  subservient  to  thy  glory  and  my  own 
truest  happiness ;  and  when  I  have  done  and  borne 
thy  will  upon  earth,  call  me  from  hence  at  what  time 
and  in  what  manner  thou  pleasest:  only  grant,  that 
in  my  dying  moments,  and  in  the  near  prospect  of 
eternity,  I  may  remember  these  my  engagements  to 
thee,  and  may  employ  my  latest  breath  in  thy  ser- 
vice. And  do  thou,  Lord,  when  thou  seest  the  ago- 
nies of  dissolving  nature  upon  me,  remember  this 
covenant  too,  even  though  I  should  then  be  incapa- 
ble of  recollecting  it.  Look  down,  0  my  heavenly 
Father  !  with  a  pitying  eye,  upon  thy  languishing, 
thy  dying  child  ;  place  thine  everlasting  arms  under- 
neath me  for  my  support ;  put  strength  and  confi- 
dence into  my  departing  spirit,  and  receive  it  to  the 
embraces  of  thine  everlasting  love.  Welcome  it  to 
the  abodes  of  them  that  sleep  in  Jesus,  (1  Thess.  4  : 
14,)  to  wait  with  them  that  glorious  day,  when  the 
last  of  thy  promises  to  thy  covenant  people  shall  be 
fulfilled  in  their  triumphant  resurrection,  and  in  that 
abundant  entrance  which  shall  be  administered  to 
them  into  that  everlasting  kingdom,  (2  Pet.  1  :  12,) 
of  which  thou  hast  assured  them  by  thy  covenant, 
and  in  the  hope  of  which  I  now  lay  hold  of  it,  de- 
siring to  live  and  to  die,  as  with  mine  hand  on  that 
hope. 


FORM    OF    SELF-DEDICATION.  241 

"  And  when  I  am  thus  numbered  among  the  dead, 
and  all  the  interests  of  mortality  are  over  with  me  for 
ever,  if  this  solemn  memorial  should  chance  to  fall 
into  the  hands  of  my  surviving  friends,  may  it  be 
the  means  of  making  serious  impressions  on  their 
minds.  May  they  read  it,  not  only  as  my  language, 
but  as  their  own ;  and  learn  to  fear  the  Lord  my 
God,  and  with  me,  to  put  their  trust  under  the  sha- 
dow of  his  wing  for  time  and  for  eternity !  And  may 
they  also  learn  to  adore  with  me  that  grace  which 
inclines  our  hearts  to  enter  into  the  covenant,  and 
condescends  to  admit  us  into  it  when  so  inclined  ; 
ascribing,  with  me,  and  with  all  the  nations  of  the 
redeemed,  to  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  that  glory,  honor,  and  praise,  which  is  so 
justly  due  to  each  divine  person  for  the  part  he  bears 
in  this  illustrious  work.    Amen." 

JNT.  B.  For  the  sake  of  those  who  may  think  the  preceding 
Form  of  Self-Dedication  too  long  to  be  transcribed,  as  it 
is  possible  many  will,  I  have,  at  the  desire  of  a  much  es- 
teemed friend,  added  the  following  Abridgment  of  it 
which  should, by  all  means,  be  attentively  weighed  in  eve- 
ry clause  before  it  is  executed ;  and  any  word  or  phrase 
which  may  seem  liable  to  exception,  changed,  that  the 
whole  heart  may  consent  to  it  all. 

"Eternal  and  ever-blessed  God  !  I  desire  to  pre- 
sent myself  before  thee,  with  the  deepest  humiliation 
and  abasement  of  soul,  sensible  how  unworthy  such 
a  sinful  worm  is  to  appear  before  the  holy  Majesty 
21 


242  FORM    OF    SELF-DEDICATION. 

of  heaven,  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords,  and 
especially  on  such  an  occasion  as  this,  ever  to  dedi- 
cate myself,  without  reserve,  to  thee.  But  the  scheme 
and  plan  is  thine  own.  Thine  infinite  condescen- 
sion hath  offered  it  by  thy  Son,  and  thy  grace  hath 
inclined  my  heart  to  accept  of  it. 

"  I  come,  therefore,  acknowledging  myself  to  have 
been  a  great  offender ;  smiting  upon  my  breast,  and 
saying  with  the  humble  publican,  '  God  be  merciful 
to  me  a  sinner  !  \  I  come,  invited  by  the  name  of  thy 
Son,  and  wholly  trusting  in  his  perfect  righteous- 
ness, entreating  that  for  his  sake  thou  wilt  be  mer- 
ciful to  my  unrighteousness,  and  wilt  no  more 
remember  my  sins.  Receive,  I  beseech  thee,  thy 
revolted  creature,  who  is  now  convinced  of  thy  right 
to  him,  and  desires  nothing  so  much  as  that  he  may 
be  thine. 

"  This  day  do  I,  with  the  utmost  solemnity,  sur 
render  myself  to  thee.  I  renounce  all  former  lords 
that  have  had  dominion  over  me;  and  I  consecrate 
to  thee  all  that  I  am,  and  all  that  I  have  :  the  facul- 
ties of  my  mind,  the  members  of  my  body,  my  world- 
ly possessions,  my  time,  and  my  influence  over 
others  ;  to  be  all  used  entirely  for  thy  glory,  and  re- 
solutely employed  in  obedience  to  thy  commands,  as 
long  as  thou  continuest  me  in  life;  with  an  ardent 
desire  and  humble  resolution  to  continue  thine 
through  all  the  endless  ages  of  eternity  ;  ever  hold- 
ing myself  in   an  attentive  posture  to  observe  the 


FORM    OF    SELF-DEDICATION.  243 

first  intimations  of  thy  will,  and  ready  to  spring  for- 
ward with  zeal  and  joy  to  the  immediate  execution 
of  it. 

"  To  thy  direction  also  I  resign  myself,  and  all  I 
am  and  have,  to  be  disposed  of  by  thee  in  such  a 
.manner  as  thou  shalt  in  thine  infinite  wisdom  judge 
most  subservient  to  the  purposes  of  thy  glory.  To 
thee  I  leave  the  management  of  all  events,  and  say 
without  reserve,  '  Not  my  will,  but  thine  be  done,' 
rejoicing  with  a  loyal  heart  in  thine  unlimited  go- 
vernment, as  what  ought  to  be  the  delight  of  the 
whole  rational  creation. 

"  Use  me,  O  Lord,  I  beseech  thee,  as  an  instru- 
ment of  thy  service !  number  me  among  thy  pecu- 
liar people  !  Let  me  be  washed  in  the  blood  of  thy 
dear  Son  !  Let  me  be  clothed  with  his  righteousness  ! 
Let  me  be  sanctified  by  his  Spirit !  Transform  me 
more  and  more  into  his  image  !  Impart  to  me, 
through  him,  all  needful  influences  of  thy  purifying, 
cheering,  and  comforting  Spirit !  And  let  my  life  be 
spent  under  those  influences,  and  in  the  light  of  thy 
gracious  countenance,  as  my  Father  and  my  God ! 

"  And  when  the  solemn  hour  of  death  comes, 
may  I  remember  thy  covenant,  '  well  ordered  in 
all  things  and  sure,  as  all  my  salvation  and  all  my 
desire,'  (2  Sam.  23 :  5,)  though  every  hope  and  en- 
joyment is  perishing ;  and  do  thou,  O  Lord !  re- 
member it  too.  Look  down  with  pity,  O  my  heavenly 
Father,  on  thy  languishing,  dying  child  !    Embrace 


244  FORM    OF    SELF-DEDICATION. 

me  in  thine  everlasting  arms  !  Put  strength  and 
confidence  into  my  departing  spirit,  and  receive  it  to 
the  abodes  of  them  that  sleep  in  Jesus,  peacefully 
and  joyfully  to  wait  the  accomplishment  of  thy  great 
promise  to  all  thy  people,  even  that  of  a  glorious  re- 
surrection, and  of  eternal  happiness  in  thine  heaven- 
ly presence ! 

"  And  if  any  surviving  friend  should,  when  I  am 
in  the  dust,  meet  with  this  memorial  of  my  solemn 
transactions  with  thee,  may  he  make  the  engage- 
ment his  own;  and  do  thou  graciously  admit  him  to 
partake  in  all  the  blessings  of  thy  covenant, 
through  Jesus  the  great  Mediator  of  it;  to  whom, 
with  thee,  O  Father,  and  thy  Holy  Spirit,  be  ever- 
lasting praises  ascribed,  by  all  the  millions  who  are 
thus  saved  by  thee,  and  by  all  those  other  celestial 
spirits  in  whose  work  and  blessedness  thou  shalt 
call  them  to  share !   Amen." 


ON    THE    LORD  S    SUPPER.  245 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


ON   COMMUNION   IN   THE   LORD  S   SUPPER. 

1.  If  the  reader  has  received  the  Ordinance  of  Baptism,  and, 
as  above  recommended,  dedicated  himself  to  God. — 2.  He  is 
urged  to  ratify  that  engagement  at  the  Table  of  the  Lord. — 
3.  From  a  view  of  the  ends  for  which  that  Ordinance  was 
instituted. — 4.  Whence  its  usefulness  is  strongly  inferred. — 
5.  And  from  the  Authority  of  Christ's  Appointment,  which 
is  solemnly  pressed  on  the  conscience. — 6.  Objections  from 
apprehensions  of  Unfitness. — 7.  Weakness  of  grace,  fyo. 
briefly  answered. — 8.  At  least,  serious  thoughtfulness  on  this 
subject  is  absolutely  insisted  upon. — 9.  The  chapter  is  closed 
with  a  prayer  for  one  who  desires  to  attend,  yet  finds  himself 
pressed  with  remaining  doubts. 

1.  I  hope  this  chapter  will  find  you,  by  a  most 
express  consent,  become  one  of  God's  covenant  peo- 
ple, solemnly  and  most  cordially  devoted  to  his  ser- 
vice ;  and  it  is  my  hearty  prayer,  that  the  engage- 
ments you  have  made  on  earth  may  be  ratified  in 
heaven.  But  for  your  farther  instruction  and  edifica- 
tion, give  me  leave  to  remind  you,  that  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  hath  appointed  a  peculiar  manner  of 
expressing  our  regard  to  him,  by  commemorating 
his  dying  love,  which,  though  it  does  not  forbid  any 
other  proper  way  of  doing  it,  must  by  no  means  be 
set  aside  or  neglected  for  any  human  methods,  how 
21* 


246  ON  THE  lord's  supper. 

prudent  and  expedient  soever  they  may  appear  to  us. 

2.  Our  Lord  has  wisely  ordained,  that  the  advan- 
tages of  society  should  be  brought  into  religion; 
and  as,  by  his  command,  professed  Christians  assem- 
ble together  for  other  acts  of  public  worship,  so  he 
has  been  pleased  to  institute  a  social  ordinance,  in 
which  a  whole  assembly  of  them  is  to  come  to  his 
table,  and  there  to  eat  the  same  bread,  and  drink  the 
same  cup.  And  this  they  are  to  do ,  as  a  token  of 
their  affectionate  remembrance  of  his  dying  love,  of 
their  solemn  surrender  of  themselves  to  God,  and  of 
their  sincere  love  to  one  another,  and  to  all  their  fel- 
low-Christians. 

3.  That  these  are  indeed  the  great  ends  of  the 
Lord's  supper,  I  shall  not  now  stay  to  argue  at 
large.  You  need  only  read  what  the  apostle  Paul 
hath  written  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh  chapters  of 
his  first  epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  to  convince  you 
fully  of  this.  He  there  expressly  tells  us,  that  our 
Lord  commanded  "  the  bread  to  be  eaten,"  and  "  the 
wine  to  be  drunk,  in  remembrance  of  him,"  (1  Cor. 
1 1  :  24,  25,)  or  as  a  commemoration  or  memorial  of 
him;  so  that,  as  often  as  we  attend  this  institution, 
"  we  show  forth  the  Lord's  death,"  which  we  are  to 
do  '( even  until  he  come,"  1  Cor.  11:  26.  And  it 
is  particularly  asserted,  that  "the  cup  is  the  New 
Testament  in  his  blood;"  that  is,  it  is  a  seal  of  that 
covenant  which  was  ratified  by  his  blood.  Now,  it 
is  evident,  that,  in  consequence  of  this,  we  are  to  ap- 


ON  THE  LORD'S  SUPPER.         247 

proach  it  with  a  view  to  that  covenant,  desiring  its 
blessings,  and  resolving,  by  divine  grace,  to  comply 
with  its  demands.     On  the  whole,  therefore,  as  the 
apostle  speaks,  we  have  "  communion  in  the  body 
and  the  blood  of  Christ/'  (1  Cor.  10  ;  16,)  and  par- 
taking of  his  table  and  of  his  cup,  we  converse  with 
Christ,  and  join  ourselves  to  him  as  his  people  ;  as 
the  Jews,  by  eating  their  sacrifices,  conversed  with 
Jehovah,  and  joined  themselves  to  him.     He  farther 
reminds  them,  that,  though  many,  they  were  "  one 
bread  and  one  body,"  being  "  all  partakers  of  that 
one  bread,"  (1  Cor.  10  :  17,)  and  being  "all  made 
to  drink  into  one  Spirit;"  (1  Cor.  12:  13.)  that  is, 
meeting  together  as  if  they  were  but  one  family,  and 
joining  in  the  commemoration  of  that  one  blood 
which  was  their  common  ransom,  and  .of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  their  common  head.     Now,  it  is  evident,  all 
these  reasonings  are  equally  applicable  to  Chris- 
tians in  succeeding  ages.     Permit  me,  therefore,  by 
the  authority  of  our  divine  Master,  to  press  upon  you 
the  observation  of  this  precept. 

4.  And  let  me  also  urge  it,  from  the  apparent  ten- 
dency which  it  has  to  promote  your  truest  advantage. 
You  are  setting  out  in  the  Christian  life ;  and  I  have 
reminded  you  at  large  of  the  opposition  you  must 
expect  to  meet  in  it.  It  is  the  love  of  Christ  which 
must  animate  you  to  break  through  all.  What  then 
can  be  more  desirable  than  to  bear  about  with  you  a 
lively  sense  of  it?  and  what  can  awaken  that  sense 


248       ON  the  lord's  supper. 

more  than  the  contemplation  of  his  death  as  there 
represented  ?  Who  can  behold  the  bread  broken,  and 
the  wine  poured  out,  and  not  reflect  how  the  body 
of  the  blessed  Jesus  was  even  torn  in  pieces  by  his 
sufferings,  and  his  sacred  blood  poured  forth  like 
water  on  the  ground  ?    Who  can  think  of  the  heart- 
rending agonies  of  the  Son  of  God  as  the  price  of 
our  redemption  and  salvation,  and  not  feel  his  soul 
melted  with  tenderness,  and  inflamed  with  grateful 
affection  ?    What  an  exalted  view  doth  it  give  us  of 
the  blessings  of  the  Gospel-covenant,  when  we  con- 
sider it  as  established  in  the  blood  of  God's  only- 
begotten  Son  !  And  when  we  make  our  approach  to 
God  as  our  heavenly  Father,  and  give  up  ourselves 
to  his  service  in  this  solemn  manner,  what  an  awful 
tendency  has  it  to  fix  the  conviction,  that  we  are  not 
our  own,  being  bought  with  such  a  price  !   1  Cor. 
6  :   19,  20.     What  a  tendency  has  it  to  guard  us 
against  every  temptation  to  those  sins  which  we  have 
so  solemnly  renounced,  and  to  engage  our  fidelity  to 
him  to  whom   we  have  bound  our  souls  as  with  an 
oath!   Well  in  ay  our  hearts  be  knit  together  in  mu- 
tual love,  (Co1.  2  :  2,)  when  we  consider  ourselves 
as  "  one  in  Ch  rist :"  (Gal.  3  :  28,)  his  blood  becomes 
the  cement  of  the  society,  joins  us  in  spirit,  not  only 
to  each  other,  but  "  to  all  that  in  every  place  call 
upon  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  both  theirs 
and  ours,"  (1  Cor.  1  :  2,)  and  we  anticipate  in  plea- 
sing hope  that  blessed  day,  when  the  assembly  shall 


ON    THE    LORD'S    SUPPER.  249 

be  complete,  and  we  shall  all  "  be  for  ever  with  the 
Lord."  1  Thess.  4:17.  Well  may  these  views  en- 
gage us  to  deny  ourselves,  and  to  "  take  up  our  cross 
and  follow  our  crucified  Master."  Matt.  16  :  24. 
Well  may  they  engage  us  to  do  our  utmost,  by 
prayer,  and  all  other  suitable  endeavors,  to  serve  his 
followers  and  his  friends ;  to  serve  those  whom  he 
hath  purchased  with  his  blood,  and  who  are  to  be 
his  associates  and  ours,  in  the  glories  of  a  happy 
immortality. 

5.  It  is  also  the  express  institution  and  command 
of  our  blessed  Redeemer,  that  the  members  of  such 
societies  should  be  tenderly  solicitous  for  the  spiri- 
tual welfare  of  each  other :  and  that,  on  the  whole, 
his  churches  may  be  kept  pure  and  holy,  that  they 
should  "withdraw  themselves  from  every  brother 
that  walketh  disorderly;"  (2  Thess.  3  :  6,)  that  they 
should  "mark  such  as  cause  offences"  or  scandals 
among  them,  "contrary  to  the  doctrine  which  they 
have  learned,  and  avoid  them;"  (Rom.  16  :  17,) 
"  that  if  any  obey  not  the  word  of  Christ  by  his  apos- 
tles," they  should  "  have  no  fellowship  or  commu- 
nion with  such,  that  they  may  be  ashamed;"  (2 
Thess.  3  :  14,)  that  they  should  "  not  eat  with  such 
as  are  notoriously  irregular"  in  their  behavior,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  should  "put  away  from  among 
themselves  such  wicked  persons,"  1  Cor.  5  :  11-13. 
It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the  institution  of  such 
societies  is  greatly  for  the  honor  of  Christianity,  and 


250  ON    THE    LORD  S    SUPPER. 

for  the  advantage  of  its  particular  professors.  And 
consequently,  every  consideration  of  obedience  to  our 
common  Lord,  and  of  prudent  regard  to  our  own 
benefit  and  that  of  our  brethren,  will  require  that 
those  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity 
should  enter  into  them,  and  assemble  among  them, 
in  these  their  most  solemn  and  peculiar  acts  of  com- 
munion, at  his  table. 

6.  I  entreat  you,  therefore,  and  if  I  may  presume 
to  say  it,  in  his  name  and  by  his  authority,  I  charge 
it  on  your  conscience,  that  this  precept  of  our  dying 
Lord  go  not,  as  it  were,  for  nothing  with  you  ;  but 
that,  if  you  indeed  love  him,  you  keep  this,  as  well 
as  the  rest  of  his  commandments.  I  know  you  may 
be  ready  to  form  objections.  I  have  elsewhere  de- 
bated many  of  the  chief  of  them  at  large,  and  I  hope 
not  without  some  good  effect.*  The  great  question 
is  that  which  relates  to  your  being  prepared  for  a 
worthy  attendance;  and  in  conjunction  with  what 
has  been  said  before,  I  think  that  may  be  brought  to 
a  very  short  issue.  Have  you,  so  far  as  you  know 
your  own  heart,  been  sincere  in  that  deliberate  sur- 
render of  yourself  to  God,  through  Christ,  which  I 
recommended  in  the  former  chapter?-  If  you  have, 
whether  it  were  with  or  without  the  particular  form 
or  manner  of  doing  it  there  recommended,  you  have 
certainly  taken  hold  of  the  covenant,  and  therefore 
should  devote  yourself  to  God,  in  obedience  to  all 
*  See  the  Fourth  of  my  Sermon?  to  Young  Persons. 


ON    THE    LORD'S    SUPPER.  251 

his  commands.  And  there  is  not,  and  cannot  be,  any 
other  view  of  the  ordinance  in  which  you  can  have 
any  further  objection  to  it.  If  you  desire  to  remem- 
ber Christ's  death ;  if  you  desire  to  renew  the  dedi- 
cation of  yourself  to  God  through  him ;  if  you  would 
list  yourself  among  his  people;  if  you  would  love 
them,  and  do  them  good  according  to  your  ability, 
and,  on  the  whole,  would  not  allow  yourself  in  the 
practice  of  any  one  known  sin,  or  in  the  omission  of 
any  one  known  duty,  then  I  will  venture  confidently 
to  say,  not  only  that  you  will  be  welcome  to  the  or- 
dinance, but  that  it  was  instituted  for  such  as  you. 

7.  As  for  other  objections,  a  few  words  may  suf- 
fice by  way  of  reply.  The  weakness  of  the  religious 
principle  in  your  soul,  if  it  be  really  implanted  there, 
is  so  far  from  being  an  argument  against  your  seek- 
ing such  a  method  to  strengthen  it,  that  it  rather 
strongly  enforces  the  necessity  of  doing  it.  The  ne- 
glect of  this  solemnity,  by  so  many  that  call  them- 
selves Christians,  should  rather  engage  you  so  much 
the  more  to  distinguish  your  zeal  for  an  institution 
in  this  respect  so  much  slighted  and  injured.  And  as 
for  the  fears  of  aggravated  guilt,  in  case  of  apostacy, 
do  not  indulge  them.  This  may,  by  the  divine  bless- 
ing, be  an  effectual  remedy  against  the  evil  you  fear; 
and  it  is  certain,  that  after  what  you  must  already 
have  known  and  felt,  before  you  could  be  brought 
info  your  present  situation,  (on  the  supposition  I 
have  now  been  making)  there  can  be  no  room  to 


252 


ON    THE    LORD  6    SUPPER. 


think  of  a  retreat;  no  room,  even  for  the  wretched 
hope  of  being  less  miserable  than  the  generality  of 
those  that  have  perished.  Your  scheme,  therefore, 
must  be  to  make  your  salvation  as  sure,  and  to  make 
it  as  glorious,  as  possible ;  and  I  know  not  any  ap- 
pointment of  our  blessed  Redeemer  which  may  have 
a  more  comfortable  aspect  upon  that  blessed  end, 
than  this  which  I  am  recommending  to  you. 

8.  One  thing  I  would  at  least  insist  upon,  and  I 
see  not  with  what  face  it  can  be  denied.  I  mean, 
that  you  should  take  this  matter  into  serious  conside- 
ration ;  that  you  should  diligently  inquire,  "  whether 
you  have  reason  in  your  conscience  to  believe  it  is 
the  will  of  God  you  should  now  approach  to  the 
ordinance  or  not ;"  and  that  you  should  continue 
your  reflections,  your  inquiries,  and  your  prayers, 
till  you  find  farther  encouragement  to  come,  if  that 
encouragement  be  hitherto  wanting.  For  of  this 
be  assured,  that  a  state  m  which  you  are  on  the 
whole  unfit  to  approach  this  ordinance,  is  a  state  in 
which  you  are  destitute  of  the  necessary  preparations 
for  death  and  heaven;  in  which,  therefore,  if  you 
would  not  allow  yourselves  to  slumber  on  the  brink 
of  destruction,  you  ought  not  to  rest  so  much  as  one 
single  day. 


ON    THE    LORD'S    SUPPER.  253 


A  Prayer  for  om  who  earnestly  dvsires  to  approach  the  Table 
of  live  Lord,  yet  has  some  remaining  doubts  concerning  his 
right  tv  that  solemn  ordinance. 

"  Blessed  Lord  !  I  adore  thy  wise  and  gracious 
appointments,  for  the  edification  of  thy  church  in 
holiness  and  in  love.  I  thank  thee  that  thou  hast 
commanded  thy  servants  to  form  themselves  into 
churches;  and  I  adore  my  gracious  Savior,  who 
hath  instituted,  as  with  his  dying  breath,  the  holy 
solemnity  of  his  Supper,  to  be  through  all  ages  a 
memorial  of  his  dying  love,  and  a  bond  of  that  union 
which  it  is  his  sovereign  pleasure  that  his  people 
should  preserve.  I  hope  thou,  Lord,  art  witness  to 
the  sincerity  with  which  I  desire  to  give  myself  up 
to  thee  ;  and  that  I  may  call  thee  to  record  on  my 
soul,  that,  if  I  now  hesitate  about  this  particular 
manner  of  doing  it,  it  is  not  because  I  would  allow 
myself  to  break  any  of  thy  commands,  or  to  slight 
any  of  thy  favors.  I  trust  thou  knowest  that  my 
present  delay  arises  only  from  my  uncertainty  as  to 
my  duty,  and  a  fear  of  profaning  holy  things  by  an 
unworthy  approach  to  them.  Yet  surely,  O  Lord  ! 
if  thou  hast  given  me  a  reverence  for  thy  command, 
a  desire  of  communion  with  thee,  and  a  willingness 
to  devote  myself  wholly  to  thy  service,  I  may  re- 
gard it  as  a  token  for  good,  that  thou  art  disposed 
to  receive  me,  and  that  I  am  not  wholly  unqualified 
for  an  ordinance  which  I  so  highly  honor  and  so 
22 


254  on  the  lord's  supper* 

earnestly  desire.  I  therefore  make  it  my  humble 
request  unto  thee,  O  Lord !  this  day,  that  thou 
wouldst  graciously  be  pleased  to  instruct  me  in  my 
duty,  and  to  teach  me  the  way  which  I  should  take. 
4  Examine  me,  O  Lord  !  and  prove  me,  try  my  reins 
and  my  heart !'  Psalm  26  :  2.  Is  there  any  secret 
sin,  in  the  love  and  practice  of  which  I  would  in- 
dulge? Is  there  any  of  thy  precepts,  in  the  habitual 
breach  of  which  I  would  allow  myself?  I  trust  I 
can  appeal  to  thee  as  a  witness,  that  there  is  not.  Let 
me  not,  then,  wrong  my  own  soul,  by  a  causeless  and 
sinful  absence  from  thy  sacred  table  !  But  grant,  O 
Lord  !  I  beseech  thee,  that  thy  word,  thy  providence, 
and  thy  Spirit,  may  so  concur  as  to  '  make  my  way 
plain  before  me!'  Prov.  15:  19.  Scatter  my  re- 
maining doubts,  if  thou  seest  that  they  have  no  just 
foundation  !  Fill  me  with  more  assured  faith,  with  a 
more  ardent  love,  and  plead  thine  own  cause  with 
mine  heart  in  such  a  manner  as  that  I  may  not  be 
able  any  longer  to  delay  that  approach,  which,  if  I  am 
thy  servant  indeed,  is  equally  my  duty  and  my  privi- 
lege !  In  the  mean  time,  grant  that  it  may  never  bo 
long  out  of  my  thoughts  ;  but  that  I  may  give  all  dili- 
gence, if  there  be  any  remaining  occasion  of  doubt, 
to  remove  it  by  a  more  affectionate  concern  to  avoid 
whatever  is  displeasing  to  the  eyes  of  thine  holiness, 
and  to  practice  the  full  extent  of  my  duty.  May  the 
views  of  Christ  crucified  be  so  familiar  to  my  mina\ 
and  may  a  sense  of  his  dying  love  so  powerfully 


ON    THE    LORD  S    SUPPER.  255 

constrain  my  soul,  that  my  own  growing  experience 
may  put  it  out  of  all  question  that  I  am  one  of  those 
for  whom  he  intended  this  feast  of  love ! 

"And  even  now,  as  joined  to  thy  church  in  spirit 
and  in  love,  though  not  in  so  express  and  intimate  a 
bond  as  I  could  wish,  would  I  heartily  pray  that 
thy  blessing  may  be  on  all  thy  people ;  that  thou 
wouldst  «  feed  thine  heritage,  and  lift  them  up  for 
ever  !'  Psalm  28  :  9.  May  every  Christian  church 
flourish  in  knowledge,  in  holiness,  and  in  love! 
May  all  thy  priests  be  clothed  with  salvation,  that 
by  their  means  thy  chosen  people  may  be  made 
joyful.  Psalm  132  :  16.  And  may  there  be  a  glori- 
ous accession  to  thy  churches  every  where,  of  those 
who  may  fly  to  them  '  as  a  cloud,  and  as  doves  to 
their  windows.'  Isaiah,  60 :  8.  May  thy  table,  O 
Lord!  be  'furnished  with  guests,'  (Matt.  22  :  10,) 
and  may  all  that  '  love  thy  salvation  say,  Let  the 
Lord  be  magnified,  who  hath  pleasure  in  the  pros- 
perity of  his  servants.'  Psalm  35:  27.  And  I  ear- 
nestly pray,  that  all  who  profess  '  to  have  received 
Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,'  may  be  duly  careful  to  t  walk 
in  him,'  (Col.  2:  6,)  and  that  we  may  all  be  pre- 
pared for  the  general  assembly  of  the  first-born,  and 
may  join  in  that  nobler  and  more  immediate  wor- 
ship where  all  these  types  and  shadows  shall  be  laid 
aside;  where  even  these  memorials  shall  be  no 
longer  necessary ;  but  a  living,  present  Redeemer 
shall  be  the  everlasting  joy  of  those  who   here  in 


256  COMMUNION    WITH    GOD 

his  absence  have   delighted  to  commemorate  his 
death.     Amen  f 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


SOMB  MORE  PARTICULAR  DIRECTIONS  FOR  MAINTAINING  CONTINU- 
AL COMMUNION  WITH  GOD,  OR  BEING  IN  HIS  FEAR  ALL  THE 
DAY   LONG. 

1.  A  letter  to  a  pious  friend  on  this  subject  introduced  here  — 
2.  General  plan  of  directions.— 3.  For  the  beginning  of 
fa  day.—±.  Lifting  up  the  heart  to  God  at  our  first  awa- 
kening.—o,  10.  Setting  ourselves  to  the  secret  devotions  of  the 
morning,  icith  respect  to  which  particular  advice  is  given.— 
11.  For  the  progress  of  the  day.— 12.  Directions  are  given 
concerning  seriousness  in  devotion.— 13.  Diligence  in  busi- 
9,.g5S  _14.  Prudence  in  recreations.— 15.  Observations  of 
Providence.— 16.  Watchfulness  against  temptations— 11. 
Dependence  on  divine  influence.— 18.  Government  of  the 
thoughts  when  in  solitude.— 19.  Management  of  Discourse  in 
company.— -20.  For  the  conclusion  of  the  day.— 21.  With  the 
secret  devotions  of  the  evening.— 22,  23.  Directions  for  self- 
examination  at  large— 24.  Lying  down  with  a  proper  tem- 
per.—25.  Conclusion  of  the  letter.— 26.  And  of  the  chapter. 
With  a  serious  view  of  death,  proper  to  be  taken  at  the  close 
of  the  day. 

1.  I  would  hope,  that  upon  serious  consideration, 
self-examination,  and  prayer,  the  reader  has  given 


COMMUNION    WITH    GOD.  257 

himself  up  to  God ;  and  that  his  concern  now  is  to 
inquire,  how  he  may  act  according  to  the  vows  of 
God  which  are  upon  him.  Now,  for  his  farther  as- 
sistance here,  besides  the  general  view  I  have  aU 
ready  given  of  the  Christian  temper  and  character, 
I  will  propose  some  more  particular  directions  re- 
lating to  maintaining  that  devout,  spiritual,  and  hea- 
venly character,  which  may,  in  the  language  of 
Scripture,  he  called  "  a  daily  walking  with  God,  or 
being  in  his  fear  all  the  day  long."  Prov.  23:  17. 
And  I  know  not  how  I  can  express  the  idea  and 
plan  which  I  have  formed  of  this,  in  a  more  clear 
and  distinct  manner  than  I  did  in  a  letter  which  I 
wrote  many  years  ago  [in  1727]  to  a  young  person 
of  eminent  piety,  with  whom  I  had  then  an  intimate 
friendship ;  and  who,  to  the  great  grief  of  all  that 
knew  him,  died  a  few  months  after  he  received  it. 
Yet  I  hope  he  lived  long  enough  to  reduce  the  di- 
rections to  practice,  which  I  wish  and  pray  that 
every  reader  may  do,  so  far  as  they  may  properly 
suit  his  capacities  and  circumstances  in  life,  consi- 
dering it  as  if  addressed  to  himself.  I  say,  and  de- 
sire it  may  be  observed,  that  I  wish  my  reader  may 
act  on  these  directions  so  far  as  they  may  properly 
suit  his  capacity  and  circumstances  in  life;  for  I 
would  be  far  from  laying  down  the  following  par- 
ticulars as  universal  rules  for  all,  or  for  any  one 
person  in  the  world,  at  all  times.  Let  them  be  prac- 
ticed by  those  that  are  able,  and  when  they  have 
22* 


«58  COMMUNION    WITH    GOD. 

leisure ;  and  when  you  cannot  reach  them  all,  come 
as  near  the  most  important  of  them  as  you  conve- 
niently can.  With  this  precaution  I  proceed  to  the 
letter,  which  I  would  hope,  after  this  previous  care 
to  guard  against  the  danger  of  mistaking  it,  will 
not  discourage  any,  the  weakest  Christian.  Let  us 
humbly  and  cheerfully  do  what  we  can,  and  rejoice 
that  we  have  so  gracious  a  Father,  who  knows  all 
our  infirmities,  and  so  compassionate  a  High  Priest, 
to  recommend  to  divine  acceptance  the  feeblest  ef- 
forts of  sincere  duty  and  love ! 

My  dear  Friend, 

Since  you  desire  my  thoughts  in  writing,  and  at 
large,  on  the  subject  of  our  late  conversation,  viz. 
•«  By  what  particular  methods,  in  our  daily  conduct, 
a  life  of  devotion  and  usefulness  may  be  most  hap- 
pily maintained  and  secured"— I  set  myself  with 
cheerfulness  to  recollect  and  digest  the  hints  which 
I  then  gave  you  ;  hoping  it  may  be  of  some  service 
to  you  in  your  most  important  interests ;  and  may 
also  fix  on  my  own  mind  a  deeper  sense  of  my  obli- 
gations to  govern  my  own  life  by  the  rules  I  offer 
to  others.  I  esteem  attempts  of  this  kind  among 
the  pleasantest  fruits,  and  the  surest  cements  of 
friendship ;  and  as  I  hope  ours  will  last  for  ever,  I 
am  persuaded  a  mutual  care  to  cherish  sentiments 
of  this  kind  will  add  everlasting  endearments  to  it. 
2.  The  directions  you  will  expect  from  me  on 


DAILY    DEVOTIONS.  259 

this  occasion  naturally  divide  themselves  into  three 
heads :  How  we  are  to  regard  God  in  the  begin- 
ning ;  the  progress ;  and  the  close  of  the  day.  I 
will  open  my  heart  freely  to  you  with  regard  to  each, 
and  will  leave  you  to  judge  how  far  these  hints  may 
suit  your  circumstances ;  aiming  at  least  to  keep 
between  the  extremes  of  a  superstitious  strictness  in 
trifles,  and  an  indolent  remissness,  which,  if  admit- 
ted in  little  things,  may  draw  after  it  criminal  neg- 
lects, and  at  length  more  criminal  indulgences. 

3.  In  the  beginning  of  the  day :  It  should  cer- 
tainly be  our  care  to  lift  up  our  hearts  to  God  as 
soon  as  we  wake,  and  while  we  are  rising;  and 
then,  to  set  ourselves  seriously  and  immediately  to 
the  secret  devotions  of  the  morning. 

4.  For  the  first  of  these  it  seems  exceedingly  natu- 
ral. There  are  so  many  things  that  may  suggest  a 
great  variety  of  pious  reflections  and  ejaculations, 
which  are  so  obvious  that  one  would  think  a  serious 
mind  could  hardly  miss  them.  The  ease  and  cheer- 
fulness of  our  mind  on  our  first  awaking ;  the  re- 
freshment we  find  from  sleep ;  the  security  we  have 
enjoyed  in  that  defenceless  state ;  the  provision  of 
warm  and  decent  apparel ;  the  cheerful  light  of  the 
returning  sun  ;  or  even  (which  is  not  unfit  to  men- 
tion to  you)  the  contrivances  of  art,  taught  and  fur- 
nished by  the  great  Author  of  all  our  conveniences, 
to  supply  us  with  many  useful  hours  of  life  in  the 
absence  of  the  sun  ■  the  hope  of  returning  to  the  dear 


260  DAILY    DEVOTIONS. 

society  of  our  friends;  the  prospect  of  spending 
another  day  in  the  service  of  God  and  the  improve- 
ment of  our  own  minds ;  and  above  all,  the  lively 
hope  of  a  joyful  resurrection  to  an  eternal  day  of 
happiness  and  glory :  any  of  these  particulars,  and 
many  more  which  I  do  not  mention,  may  furnish  us 
with  matter  of  pleasing  reflection  and  cheerful  praise 
while  we  are  rising.  And  for  our  farther  assistance, 
when  we  are  alone  at  this  time,  it  may  not  be  impro- 
per to  speak  sometimes  to  ourselves,  and  sometimes 
to  our  heavenly  Father,  in  the  natural  expressions 
of  joy  and  thankfulness.  Permit  me,  Sir,  to  add,  that, 
if  we  find  our  hearts  in  such  a  frame  at  our  first 
awaking,  even  that  is  just  matter  of  praise,  and  the 
rather,  as  perhaps  it  is  an  answer  to  the  prayer  with 
which  we  lay  down. 

5.  For  the  exercise  of  secret  devotion  in  the  morn- 
ing, which  I  hope  will  generally  be  our  first  work, 
I  cannot  prescribe  an  exact  method  to  another.  You 
must,  my  dear  friend,  consult  your  own  taste  in  some 
measure.  The  constituent  parts  of  the  service  are, 
in  the  general,  plain.  Were  I  to  propose  a  particu- 
lar model  for  those  who  have  half  or  three  quarters 
of  an  hour  at  command,  which,  with  prudent  con- 
duct, I  suppose  most  may  have,  it  should  be  this  : 

6.  To  begin  the  stated  devotions  of  the  day  with 
a  solemn  act  of  praise,  offered  to  God  on  our  knees, 
and  generally  with  a  low,  yet  distinct  voice ;  ac- 
knowledging the  mercies  we  have  been  reflecting  on 


DAILY    DEVOTIONS.  261 

while  rising,  never  forgetting  to  mention  Christ  as 
the  great  foundation  of  all  our  enjoyments  and  our 
hopes,  or  to  return  thanks  for  the  influences  of  the 
blessed  Spirit,  which  have  led  our  hearts  to  God,  or 
are  then  engaging  us  to  seek  him.  This,  as  well  as 
other  offices  of  devotion  afterwards  mentioned,  must 
be  done  attentively  and  sincerely ;  for  not  to  offer 
our  praises  heartily,  is,  in  the  sight  of  God,  not  to 
praise  him  at  all.  This  address  of  praise  may  pro- 
perly be  concluded  with  an  express  renewal  of  our 
dedication  to  God,  declaring  our  continued  repeated 
resolution  of  being  devoted  to  him,  and  particularly 
of  living  to  his  glory  the  ensuing  day. 

7.  It  may  be  proper,  after  this,  to  take  a  prospect 
of  the  day  before  us,  so  far  as  we  can  probably  fore- 
see, in  the  general,  where  and  how  it  may  be  spent ; 
and  seriously  to  reflect,  "  How  shall  I  employ  my- 
self for  God  this  day  ?  What  business  is  to  be  done, 
and  in  what  order  1  What  opportunities  may  I  ex 
pect,  either  of  doing  or  of  receiving  good?  What 
temptations  am  I  likely  to  be  assaulted  with,  in  any 
place,  company,  or  circumstances,  which  may  pro- 
bably occur  ?  In  what  instance  have  I  lately  failed  % 
And  how  shall  I  be  safest  now  ?" 

8.  After  this  review  it  will  be  proper  to  offer  up 
a  short  prayer,  begging  that  God  would  quicken  us 
to  each  of  these  foreseen  duties ;  that  he  would  forti- 
fy us  against  each  of  these  apprehended  dangers ; 
that  he  would  grant  us  success  in  such  or  such  a  bu- 


262  DAILY    DEVOTIONS. 


siness  undertaken  for  his  glory:  and  also  that  he 
would  help  us  to  discover  and  improve  unforeseen 
opportunities  to  resist  unexpected  temptations,  and 
to  bear  patiently,  and  religiously,  any  afflictions 
which  may  surprise  us  in  the  day  on  which  we  are 
entering. 

9.  I  would  advise  you  after  this  to  read  some  por- 
tion of  Scripture:  not  a  great  deal,  nor  the  whole 
Bible  in  its  course ;  but  some  select  portions  out  of 
its  most  useful  parts,  'perhaps  ten  or  twelve  verses, 
not  troubling  yourself  much  about  the  exact  connec- 
tion, or  other  critical   niceties  which  may  occur, 
though  at  other  times  I  would  recommend  them  to 
your  inquiry,  as  you  have  ability  and  opportunity, 
but  considering  them   merely  in  a  devotional  and 
practical  view.  Here  take  such  instructions  as  readi- 
ly present  themselves  to  your  thoughts,  repeat  them 
over  to  your  own  conscience,  and  charge  your  heart 
religiously  to  observe  them,  and  act  upon  them,  un- 
der a  sense  of  the  divine  authority  which  attends 
them.    And  if  you  pray  over  the  substance  of  this 
Scripture  with  your  Bible  open  before  you,  it  may 
impress  your  memory  and  your   heart  yet  more 
deeply,  and  may  form  you  to  a  copiousness  and  va- 
riety, both  of  thought  and  expression,  in  prayer. 

10.  It  might  be  proper  to  close  these  devotions 
with  a  psalm  or  hymn ;  and  I  rejoice  with  you,  that 
through  the  pious  care  of  our  sacred  poets,  we  are 
provided  with  so  rich  a  variety  for  the  assistance  of 


DAILY    DEVOTIONS.  263 

the  closet  and  family  on  these  occasions,  as  well  as 
for  the  service  of  the  sanctuary. 

11.  The  most  material  directions  which  have  oc- 
curred to  me  relating  to  the  progress  of  the  day,  are 
these :  That  we  be  serious  in  the  devotions  of  the 
day;  that  we  be  diligent  in  the  business  of  it,  that  is, 
in  the  prosecution  of  our  worldly  callings ;  that  we 
be  temperate  and  prudent  in  the  recreations  of  it  ; 
that  we  carefully  mark  the  providences  of  the  day ; 
that  we  cautiously  guard  against  the  temptations  of 
it;  that  we  keep  up  a  lively  and  humble  dependence 
upon  the  divine  influence,  suitable  to  every  emer- 
gency of  it;  that  we  govern  our  thoughts  well  in  the 
solitude  of  the  day,  and  our  discourses  well  in  the 
conversations  of  it.  These,  Sir,  were  the  heads  of  a 
sermon  which  you  have  lately  heard  me  preach,  and 
to  which  I  know  you  referred  in  that  request  which 
I  am  now  endeavoring  to  answer.  I  will  therefore 
touch  upon  the  most  material  hints  which  fall  un- 
der each  of  these  particulars. 

12.  For  seriousness  in  devotion,  whether  public 
or  domestic,  let  us  take  a  few  moments  before  we 
enter  upon  such  solemnities,  to  pause,  and  reflect  on 
the  perfections  of  the  God  we  are  addressing,  on  the 
importance  of  the  business  we  are  coming  about,  on 
the  pleasure  and  advantage  of  a  regular  and  devout 
attendance,  and  on  the  guilt  and  folly  of  an  hypocri- 
tical formality.  When  engaged,  let  us  maintain  a 
strict  watchfulness  over  our  own  spirits  and  check 


264  DAILY    DEVOTIONS. 

the  first  wanderings  of  thought.  And  when  the  duty 
is  over,  let  us  immediately  reflect  on  the  manner  in 
which  it  has  been  performed,  and  ask  our  own  con- 
sciences whether  we  have  reason  to  conclude  that 
we  are  accepted  of  God  in  it  ?  For  there  is  a  certain 
manner  of  going  through  these  offices,  which  our 
own  hearts  will  immediately  tell  us  "  it  is  impossi- 
ble for  God  to  approve ;"  and  if  we  have  inadvert- 
ently fallen  into  it,  we  ought  to  be  deeply  humbled 
before  God  for  it,  lest  "  our  very  prayer  become  sin." 
Psalm  109  :  7. 

13.  As  for  the  hours  of  worldly  business,  whether 
it  be  that  of  the  hands,  or  the  labor  of  a  learned  life 
not  immediately  relating  to  religious  matters,  let  us 
set  to  the  prosecution  of  it  with  a  sense  of  God's 
authority,  and  Avith  a  regard  to  his  glory.  Let  us 
avoid  a  dreaming,  sluggish,  indolent  temper,  which 
nods  over  its  work,  and  does  only  the  business  of 
one  hour  in  two  or  three.  In  opposition  to  this, 
which  runs  through  the  life  of  some  people,  who 
yet  think  they  are  never  idle,  let  us  endeavor  to 
despatch  as  much  as  we  well  can  in  a  little  time ;  con- 
sidering that  it  is  but  a  little  we  have  in  all.  And 
let  us  be  habitually  sensible  of  the  need  we  have  of 
the  divine  blessing  to  make  our  labors  successful. 

14.  For  seasons  of  diversion,  let  us  take  care  that 
our  recreations  be  well  chosen  ;  that  they  be  pursu- 
ed with  a  good  intention,  to  fit  us  for  a  renewed  ap- 
plication to  the  labors  of  life  ;  and  thus  that  they 


DAILY    DEVOTIONS.  265 

be  only  used  in  subordination  to  the  honor  of  God, 
the  great  end  of  all  our  actions.  Let  us  take  heed, 
that  our  hearts  be  not  estranged  from  God  by  them  ; 
and  that  they  do  not  take  up  too  much  of  our  time ; 
always  remembering  that  the  faculties  of  human 
nature,  and  the  advantages  of  the  Christian  revela- 
tion, were  not  given  us  in  vain  ;  but  that  we  are  al- 
ways to  be  in  pursuit  of  some  great  and  honorable 
end,  and  to  indulge  ourselves  in  amusements  and 
diversions  no  farther  than  as  they  make  a  part  in  a 
scheme  of  rational  and  manly,  benevolent  and  pious 
conduct. 

15.  For  the  observation  of  Providence,  it  will  be 
useful  to  regard  the  divine  interposition  in  our  com- 
forts and  in  our  afflictions.  In  our  comforts,  whether 
more  common  6r  extraordinary:  that  we  find  our- 
selves in  continued  health ;  that  we  are  furnished 
with  food  for  support  and  pleasure ;  that  we  have  so 
many  agreeable  ways  of  employing  our  time  ;  that 
we  have  so  many  friends,  and  those  so  good,  and  so 
happy ;  that  our  business  goes  on  so  prosperously ; 
that  we  go  out  and  come  in  safely  ;  and  that  we  en- 
joy composure  and  cheerfulness  of  spirit,  without 
which  nothing  else  could  be  enjoyed :  all  these 
should  be  regarded  as  providential  favors,  and  due 
acknowledgments  should  be  made  to  God  on  these 
accounts,  as  we  pass  through  such  agreeable  scenes. 
On  the  other  hand,  Providence  is  to  be  regarded  in 
every  disappointment,  in  every  loss,  in  every  pain,  in 
23 


266  DAILY    DEVOTIONS. 

every  instance  of  unkindness  from  those  who  have 
professed  friendship;  and  we  should  endeavor  to 
argue  ourselves  into  a  patient  submission,  from  this 
consideration,  that  the  hand  of  God  is  always  me- 
diately, if  not  immediately,  in  each  of  them ;  and 
that,  if  they  are  not  properly  the  work  of  Providence, 
they  are  at  least  under  his  direction.    It  is  a  reflec- 
tion which  we  should  particularly  make  with  rela- 
tion to  those  little  cross  accidents,  (as  we  are  ready 
to  call  them,)  and  those  infirmities  and  follies  in  the 
temper  and  conduct  of  our  intimate  friends,  which 
may  else  be  ready  to  discompose  us.    And  it  is  the 
more  necessary  to  guard  our  minds  here,  as  wise  and 
good  men  often  lose  the  command  of  themselves  on 
These  comparatively  little  occasions ;  who,  calling 
up  reason  and  religion  to  their  assistance,  stand  the 
shock  of  great  calamities  with  fortitude  and  resolu- 
tion. .        .  . 

16.  For  watchfulness  against  temptations,  it  is  ne- 
cessary, when  changing  our  place,  or  our  employ- 
ment, to  reflect,  "  What  snares  attended  me  here  ?" 
And  as  this  should  be  our  habitual  care,  so  we  should 
especially  guard  against  those  snares  which  in  the 
morning  we  foresaw.  And  when  we  are  entering 
on  those  circumstances  in  which  we  expected  the  as- 
sault, we  should  reflect,  especially  if  it  be  a  matter  of 
great  importance,  "  Now  the  combat  is  going  to  be- 
gin :  now  God  and  the  blessed  angels  are  observing 
what  constancy*  what  fortitude  there  is  in  my  soul. 


DAILY    DEVOTIONS.  267 

and  how  far  the  divine  authority,  and  the  remem- 
brance of  my  own  prayers  and  resolutions,  will  weigh 
with  me  when  it  comes  to  a  trial." 

17.  As  for  dependence  on  divine  grace  and  influ- 
ence, it  must  be  universal;  and  since  we  always 
need  it,  we  must  never  forget  that  necessity.  A  mo- 
ment spent  in  humble  fervent  breathings  after  the 
communications  of  the  divine  assistance,  may  do 
more  good  than  many  minutes  spent  in  mere  rea- 
sonings ;  and  though  indeed  this  should  not  be 
neglected,  since  the  light  of  reason  is  a  kind  of  divine 
illumination,  yet  still  it  ought  to  be  pursued  in  a 
due  sense  of  our  dependence  on  the  Father  of  Lights, 
or  where  we  think  ourselves  wisest,  we  may  "become 
vain  in  our  imaginations,"  Rom.  1  :  21,  22.  Let  us 
therefore  always  call  upon  God,  and  say,  for  instance, 
when  we  are  going  to  pray,  "Lord,  fix  my  attention! 
Awaken  my  holy  affections,  and  pour  out  upon  me 
the  spirit  of  grace  and  of  supplication  !"  Zech.  12  : 
10.  When  taking  up  a  Bible  or  any  other  good  book, 
"  Open  thou  mine  eyes,  that  I  may  behold  wondrous 
things  out  of  thy  law!  Psalm  119  :  18.  Enlighteen 
my  understanding !  Warm  my  heart !  May  my  good 
resolutions  be  confirmed,  and  all  the  course  of  my 
life  be  in  a  proper  manner  regulated  !"  When  ad- 
dressing ourselves  to  any  worldly  business,  "Lord, 
prosper  thou  the  work  of  mine  hands  upon  me, 
(Psalm  90  :  17,)  and  give  thy  blessing  to  my  honest 
endeavors  !"    When  going   to  any  kind  of  recrea- 


268  DAILY    DEVOTIONS. 

tion,  "  Lord,  bless  my  refreshments  !  Let  me  not  for- 
get thee  in  them,  but  still  keep  thy  glory  in  view  !" 
When  coming  into  company,  "Lord,  may  I  do, 
and  get  good  !  Let  no  corrupt  communication  pro- 
ceed out  of  my  mouth,  but  that  which  is  good  to  the 
use  of  edifying,  that  it  may  minister  grace  to  the 
hearers  !"  Eph.  4  :  29.  When  entering  upon  diffi- 
culties, "  Lord,  give  me  that  wisdom  which  is  profit- 
able to  direct!"  Eccles.  10:  10.  "Teach  me  thy 
way,  and  lead  me  in  a  plain  path  !"  Psalm  27  :  11. 
When  encountering  with  temptations,  "Let  thy 
strength,  O  gracious  Redeemer,  be  made  perfect  in 
my  weakness  !"  2  Cor,.  12  :  9.  These  instances  may 
illustrate  the  design  of  this  direction,  though  they 
may  be  far  from  a  complete  enumeration  of  all  the 
circumstances  in  which  it  is  to  be  regarded. 

18.  For  the  government  of  our  thoughts  in  soli- 
tude :  let  us  accustom  ourselves,  on  all  occasions,  to 
exercise  a  due  command  over  our  thoughts.  Let  us 
take  care  of  those  entanglements  of  passion,  or  those 
attachments  to  any  present  interest  in  view,  which 
would  deprive  us  of  our  power  over  them.  Let  us 
set  before  us  some  profitable  subject  of  thought; 
such  as  the  perfection  of  the  blessed  God,  the  love  of 
Christ,  the  value  of  time,  the  certainty  and  impor- 
tance of  death  and  judgment,  and  the  eternity  of 
happiness  or  misery  which  is  to  follow.  Let  us 
also,  at  such  intervals,  reflect  on  what  we  have  ob- 
served as  to  the  state  of  our  own  souls,  with  regard 


DAILY    DEVOTIONS.  269 

to  the  advance  or  decline  of  religion  ;  or  on  the  last 
sermon  we  have  heard,  or  the  last  portion  of  Scrip- 
ture we  have  read.  You  may  perhaps,  in  this  con- 
nection, Sir,  recollect  what  I  have,  if  I  remember 
right,  proposed  to  you  in  conversation  ;  that  it  might 
be  very  useful  to  select  some  one  verse  of  Scripture 
which  we  have  met  with  in  the  morning,  and  to 
treasure  it  up  in  our  mind,  resolving  to  think  of 
that  at  any  time  when  we  are  at  a  loss  for  matter  of 
pious  reflection,  in  any  intervals  of  leisure  for  en- 
tering upon  it.  This  will  often  be  as  a  spring  from 
whence  many  profitable  and  delightful  thoughts 
may  rise,  which  perhaps  we  did  not  before  see  in 
that  connection  and  force.  Or  if  it  should  not  be  so, 
yet  I  am  persuaded  it  will  be  much  better  to  repeat 
the  same  scripture  in  our  mind  a  hundred  times  in 
a  day,  with  some  pious  ejaculation  formed  upon  it, 
than  to  leave  our  thoughts  at  the  mercy  of  all  those 
various  trifles  which  may  otherwise  intrude  upon 
us,  the  variety  of  which  will  be  far  from  making 
amends  for  their  vanity. 

19.  Lastly,  for  the  government  of  our  discourse 
in  company.  We  should  take  great  care  that  no- 
thing may  escape  us  which  can  expose  us,  or  our 
Christian  profession,  to  censure  and  reproach ;  no- 
thing injurious  to  those  that  are  absent,  or  those  that 
are  present ;  nothing  malignant,  nothing  insincere, 
nothing  which  may  corrupt,  nothing  which  may 
provoke,  nothing  which  may  mislead  those  about 
23* 


270 


EVENING    DEVOTIONS. 


us.  Nor  should  we  by  any  means  be  content  that 
what  we  say  is  innocent :  it  should  be  our  desire 
that  it  may  be  edifying  to  ourselves  and  others.  In 
this  view,  we  should  endeavor  to  have  some  subject 
of  useful  discourse  always  ready ;  in  which  we  may 
be  assisted  by  the  hints  given  about  furniture  for 
thought,  under  the  former  head.  We  should  watch 
for  decent  opportunities  of  introducing  useful  reflec- 
tions ;  and  if  a  pious  friend  attempt  to  do  it,  we 
should  endeavor  to  second  it  immediately.  When 
the  conversation  does  not  turn  directly  on  religious 
subjects,  we  should  endeavor  to  make  it  improving 
some  other  way  ;  we  should  reflect  on  the  charac- 
ter and  capacities  of  our  company,  that  we  may  lead 
them  to  talk  of  what  they  understand  best;  for  their 
discourses  on  those  subjects  will  probably  be  most 
pleasant  to  themselves,  as  well  as  most  useful  to  us. 
And  in  pauses  of  discourse,  it  may  not  be  improper 
to  lift  up  a  holy  ejaculation  to  God,  that  his  grace 
may  assist  us  and  our  friends  in  our  endeavors  to 
do  good  to  each  other ;  that  all  we  say  or  do  may 
be  worthy  the  character  of  reasonable  creatures  and 
of  Christians. 

20.  The  directions  for  a  religious  closing  of  the 
day  which  I  shall  here  mention,  are  only  two :  Let 
us  see  to  it,  that  the  secret  duties  of  the  evening  be 
well  performed ;  and  let  us  lie  down  on  our  beds  in 
a  pious  frame. 

21.  For  the  secret  devotion  in  the  evening,  I  would 


EVENING    DEVOTIONS.  271 

propose  a  method  something  different  from  that  in  the 
morning ;  bu,t  still,  as  then,  with  due  allowances  for 
circumstances  which  may  make  unthought-of  altera- 
tions proper.  I  should  advise  to  read  a  portion  of 
Scripture  in  the  first  place,  with  suitable  reflections 
and  prayer,  as  above ;  then  to  read  a  hymn,  or  psalm ; 
after  this  to  enter  on  self-examination,  to  be  followed 
by  a  longer  prayer  than  that  which  followed  read- 
ing, to  be  formed  on  this  review  of  the  day.  In  this 
address  to  the  throne  of  grace,  it  will  be  highly  pro- 
per to  entreat  that  God  would  pardon  the  omissions 
and  offences  of  the  day ;  to  praise  him  for  mercies 
temporal  and  spiritual ;  to  recommend  ourselves  to 
his  protection  for  the  ensuing  night ;  with  proper  pe- 
titions for  others,  whom  we  ought  to  bear  on  our 
hearts  before  him ;  and  particularly  for  those  friends 
with  whom  we  have  conversed  or  corresponded  in 
the  preceding  day.  Many  other  concerns  will  occur, 
both  in  morning  and  evening  prayer,  which  I  have 
not  here  hinted  at ;  but  I  did  not  apprehend  that  a 
full  enumeration  of  these  things  belonged,  by  any 
means,  to  our  present  purpose. 

22.  Before  I  quit  this  head  I  must  take  the  liberty 
to  remind  you,  that  self-examination  is  so  important 
a  duty,  that  it  will  be  worth  our  while  to  spend  a  few 
words  upon  it.  And  this  branch  of  it  is  so  easy,  that, 
when  we  have  proper  questions  before  us,  any  per- 
son of  a  common  understanding  may  hope  to  go 
through  it  with  advantage,  under  a  divine  blessing. 


272  EVENING    DEVOTIONS. 

I  offer  you  therefore  the  following  queries,  which  I 
hope  you  will,  with  such  alterations  as  you  may 
judge  requisite,  keep  near  you  for  daily  use.  "  Did 
I  awake  as  with  God  this  morning,  and  rise  with  a 
grateful  sense  of  his  goodness  ?  How  were  the  secret 
devotions  of  the  morning  performed  ?  Did  I  offer  my 
solemn  praises,  and  renew  the  dedication  of  myself 
to  God.  with  becoming  attention  and  suitable  affec- 
tions? Did  I  lay  my  scheme  for  the  business  of  the 
day  wisely  and  well  ?  How  did  I  read  the  Scriptures, 
and  any  other  devotional  or  practical  piece  which  I 
afterwards  found  it  convenient  to  review?  Did  it  do 
my  heart  good,  or  was  it  a  mere  amusement?  How 
have  the  other  stated  devotions  of  the  day  been  at- 
tended, whether  in  the  family  or  in  public?  Have  I 
pursued  the  common  business  of  the  day  with  dili- 
gence and  spirituality,  doing  every  thing  in  season, 
and  with  all  convenient  despatch,  and  as  '  unto  the 
Lord?'  Col.  3  :  23.  What  time  have  I  lost  this  day, 
in  the  morning,  or  the  forenoon,  in  the  afternoon,  or 
"the  evening?"  for  these  divisions  will  assist  your 
recollection  ;  "  and  what  has  occasioned  the  loss  of  it  ? 
With  what  temper,  and  under  what  regulations  have 
the  recreations  of  this  day  been  pursued  ?  Have  I 
seen  the  hand  of  God  in  my  mercies,  health,  cheer- 
fulness, food,  clothing,  books,  preservation  in  jour- 
nies,  success  of  business,  conversation,  and  kindness 
of  friends,  &c.  ?  Have  I  seen  it  in  afflictions,  and 
particularly  in  little  things,  which  had  a  tendency 


EVENING    DEVOTIONS.  273 

to  vex  and  disquiet  me  ?  Have  I  received  my  com- 
forts thankfully,  and  my  afflictions  submissively? 
How  have  I  guarded  against  the  temptations  of  the 
day,  particularly  against  this  or  that  temptation 
which  I  foresaw  in  the  morning  ?  Have  I  maintained 
a  dependence  on  divine  influence  ?  Have  I  •  lived  by- 
faith  on  the  Son  of  God,'  (Gal.  2  :  20,)  and  regarded 
Christ  this  day  as  my  teacher  and  governor,  my  atone- 
ment and  intercessor,  my  example  and  guardian,  my 
strength  and  forerunner  ?  Have  I  been  looking  for- 
ward to  death  and  eternity  this  day,  and  considered 
myself  as  a  probationer  for  heaven,  and,  through 
grace,  an  expectant  of  it  ?  Have  I  governed  my 
thoughts  well,  especially  in  such  or  such  an  inter- 
val of  solitude  ?  How  was  my  subject  of  thought 
this  day  chosen,  and  how  was  it  regarded  ?  Have 
I  governed  my  discourses  well,  in  such  and  such 
company?  Did  I  say  nothing  passionate,  mischiev- 
ous, slanderous,  imprudent,  impertinent  ?  Has  my 
heart  this  day  been  full  of  love  to  God,  and  to  all 
mankind  ?  and  have  I  sought,  and  found,  and  im 
proved,  opportunities  of  doing  and  of  getting  good  ? 
With  what  attention  and  improvement  have  I  read 
the  Scripture  this  evening  ?  How  was  self-examina- 
tion performed  the  last  night  ?  and  how  have  I  pro- 
fited this  day  by  any  remarks  I  then  made  on  former 
negligences  and  mistakes  ?  With  what  temper  did  I 
then  lie  down,  and  compose  myself  to  sleep?" 
23.  You  will  easily  see,  Sir,  that  these  questions. 


274  EVENING    DEVOTION'S. 

are  so  adjusted  as  to  be  an  abridgment  of  the  most 
material  advice  I  have  given  in  this  letter ;  and  I 
believe  I  need  not,  to  a  person  of  your  understand- 
ing, say  any  thing  as  to  the  usefulness  of  such  in- 
quiries. Conscience  will  answer  them  in  a  few  mi- 
nutes ;  but  if  you  think  them  too  large  and  particu- 
lar, you  may  make  still  a  shorter  abstract  for  daily 
use,  and  reserve  these,  with  such  obvious  alteration 
as  will  then  be  necessary  for  seasons  of  more  than 
ordinary  exactness  in  review,  which  I  hope  will  oc- 
cur at  least  once  a-week.  Secret  devotion  being  thus 
performed,  before  drowsiness  render  us  unfit  for  it, 
the  interval  between  that  and  our  going  to  rest  must 
be  conducted  by  the  rules  mentioned  under  the  next 
head.  And  nothing  will  farther  remain  to  be  consider- 
ed here,  but, 

24.  The  sentiments  with  which  we  should  lie 
down  and  compose  ourselves  to  sleep.  Now  here  it 
is  obviously  suitable  to  think  of  the  divine  goodness, 
in  adding  another  day,  and  the  mercies  of  it,  to  the 
former  days  and  mercies  of  our  life;  to  take  notice 
of  the  indulgence  of  Providence  in  giving  us  com- 
modious habitations  and  easy  beds,  and  continuing 
to  us  such  health  of  body  that  we  can  lay  ourselves 
down  at  ease  upon  them,  and  such  serenity  of  mind 
as  leaves  us  any  room  to  hope  for  refreshing  sleep ; 
a  refreshment  to  be  sought,  not  merely  as  an  indul- 
gence to  animal  nature,  but  as  what  our  wise  Crea- 
tor, in  order  to  keep  us  humble  in  the  midst  of  so 


EVENING    DEVOTIONS.  27  5 

many  infirmities,  has  been  pleased  to  make  neces- 
sary to  our  being  able  to  pursue  his  service  with  re- 
newed alacrity.  Thus  may  our  sleeping,  as  well  as 
our  waking  hours,  be  in  some  sense  devoted  to  God. 
And  when  we  are  just  going  to  resign  ourselves  to 
the  image  of  death,  to  what  one  of  the  ancients  beau- 
tifully calls  "  its  lesser  mysteries,"  it  is  also  evidently 
proper  to  think  seriously  of  that  end  of  all  the  living, 
and  to  renew  those  actings  of  repentance  and  faith 
which  we  should  judge  necessary  if  we  were  to  wake 
no  more  here.  You  have  once,  Sir,  seen  a  medita- 
tion of  that  kind  in  my  hand  :  I  will  transcribe  it  for 
you  in  the  postscript ;  and  therefore  shall  add  no 
more  to  this  head,  but  here  put  a  close  to  the  direc- 
tions you  desired. 

25.  I  am  persuaded  the  most  important  of  them 
have,  in  one  form  or  another,  been  long  regarded  by 
you,  and  made  governing  maxims  of  your  life.  I 
shall  greatly  rejoice  if  the  review  of  these,  and  the 
examination  and  trial  of  the  rest,  may  be  the  means 
of  leading  you  into  more  intimate  communion  with 
God,  and  so  of  rendering  your  life  more  pleasant 
and  useful,  and  your  eternity,  whenever  that  is  to 
commence,  more  glorious.  There  is  not  a  human 
creature  upon  earth  whom  I  should  not  delight  to 
serve  in  these  important  interests  ;  but  I  can  faithful- 
ly assure  you,  that  I  am,  with  particular  respect, 
Dear  Sir, 
Your  very  affectionate  friend  and  servant. 


276  EVENING    DEVOTIONS. 

26.  This,  reader,  with  the  alteration  of  a  very  few 
words,  is  the  letter  I  wrote  to  a  worthy  friend  (now, 
I  doubt  not  with,  God)  about  sixteen  years  ago ; 
and  I  can  assuredly  say,  that  the  experience  of  each 
of  these  years  has  confirmed  me  in  these  views,  and 
established  me  in  the  persuasion,  that  one  day  thus 
spent  is  far  preferable  to  whole  years  of  sensuality, 
and  the  neglect  of  religion.  I  chose  to  insert  the 
letter  as  it  is,  because  I  thought  the  freedom  and 
particularity  of  the  advice  I  had  given  in  it  would 
appear  most  natural  in  its  original  form ;  and  as  I 
propose  to  enforce  these  counsels  in  the  next  chapter, 
I  shall  conclude  this  with  that  meditation  which  I 
promised  my  friend  as  a  postscript ,  and  which  I 
could  wish  you  to  make  so  familiar  to  yourself,  as 
that  you  may  be  able  to  recollect  the  substance  of  it 
whenever  you  compose  yourself  to  sleep. 

A  serious  view  of  death,  proper  to  be  taken  as  we  lie  down  on 
our  beds. 

"  O  my  soul !  look  forward  a  little  with  serious- 
ness and  attention,  and  learn  wisdom  by  the  consi- 
deration of  thy  latter  end,  Deut.  22  :  29.  Another  of 
thy  mortal  days  is  now  numbered  and  finished ;  and 
as  I  have  put  off*  my  clothes,  and  laid  myself  upon 
my  bed  for  the  repose  of  the  night ;  so  will  the  day 
of  life  quickly  come  to  its  period,  so' must  the  body 
itself  be  put  off  and  laid  to  its  repose'  in  a  feed  of 


EVENING    DEVOTIONS*  277 

dust.  There  let  it  rest ;  for  it  will  be  no  more  re- 
garded by  me  than  the  clothes  which  I  have  now 
laid  aside.  I  have  another  far  more  important  con- 
cern to  attend.  Think,  O  my  soul !  when  death 
comes,  thou  art  to  enter  upon  the  eternal  world,  and 
to  be  fixed  either  in  heaven  or  in  hell.  All  the 
schemes  and  cares,  the  hopes  and  fears,  the  pleasures 
and  sorrows  of  life,  will  come  to  their  period,  and 
the  world  of  spirits  will  open  upon  thee.  And  oh  ! 
how  soon  may  it  open  !  Perhaps  before  the  return- 
ing sun  bring  on  the  light  of  another  day.  To-mor- 
row's sun  may  not  enlighten  my  eyes,  but  only 
shine  round  a  senseless  corpse  which  may  lie  in 
the  place  of  this  animated  body.  At  least  the  death 
of  many  in  the  flower  of  their  age,  and  many  who 
were  superior  to  me  in  capacity,  piety,  and  the  pros- 
pects of  usefulness,  may  loudly  warn  me  not  to  de- 
pend on  a  long  life,  and  engage  me  rather  to  won- 
der that  I  am  continued  here  so  many  years,  than 
to  be  surprised  if  I  am  speedily  removed. 

"  And  now,  O  my  soul !  answer  as  in  the  sight 
of  God,  Art  thou  ready  ?  Art  thou  ready  ?  Is  there 
no  sin  unforsaken,  and  so  unrepented  of,  to  fill  me 
with  anguish  in  my  departing  moments,  and  to 
make  me  tremble  on  the  brink  of  eternity  ?  Dread 
to  remain  under  the  guilt  of  it,  and  this  moment  re- 
new thy  most  earnest  applications  to  the  mercy  of 
God,  and  the  blood  of  a  Redeemer,  for  deliverance 
from  it 

24 


278  EVENING    DEVOTIONS. 

"  But  if  the  great  account  be  already  adjusted,  if 
thou  hast  cordially  repented  of  thy  numerous  of- 
fences, if  thou  hast  sincerely  committed  thyself,  by 
faith,  into  the  hands  of  the  blessed  Jesus,  and  hast 
not  renounced  thy  covenant  with  him,  by  turning  to 
the  allowed  practice  of  sin,  then  start  not  at  the 
thought  of  a  separation ;  it  is  not  in  the  power  of 
death  to  hurt  a  soul  devoted  to  God,  and  united  to 
the  great  Redeemer.  It  may  take  from  me  my 
worldly  comforts,  it  may  disconcert  and  break  my 
schemes  for  service  on  earth ;  but,  O  my  soul,  di- 
viner entertainments  and  nobler  services  '  wait  thee 
beyond  the  grave  !'  For  ever  blessed  be  the  name 
of  God  and  the  love  of  Jesus,  for  these  quieting,  en- 
couraging, joyful  views  !  I  will  now  lay  me  down 
in  peace,  and  sleep,  (Psalm  4:8,)  free  from  the  fears 
of  what  shall  be  the  issue  of  this  night,  whether  life 
or  death  be  appointed  for  me.  Father,  into  thy 
hands  I  commend  my  spirit,  (Luke,  23:  46,)  for 
thou  hast  redeemed  me,  O  God  of  truth !  (Psalm 
31  :  5,)  and  therefore  I  can  cheerfully  refer  it  to 
thy  choice,  whetherl  shall  wake  in  this  world  or 
another." 


DEVOTION  TO  GOD  URGED.        279 


CHAPTER    XX. 


A    SERIOUS    PERSUASIVE    TO   SUCH   A    METHOD    OP  SPENDING  OUR 
DAYS   AS   IS  REPRESENTED  IN   THE  FORMER  CHAPTER 

1,  2.  Christians  fix  their  vietcs  too  low,  and  indulge  too  indo- 
lent a  disposition,  which  makes  it  more  necessary  to  urge  such 
a  life  as  that  under  consideration. — 3.  It  is  therefore  en- 
forced, from  its  being  apparently  reasonable,  considering 
ourselves  as  the  creatures  of  God,  and  as  redeemed  by  the 
blood  of  Christ. — 4.  From  its  evident  tendency  to  conduce 
to  our  comfort  in  life.— 5.  From  the  influence  it  will  have 
to  promote  our  usefulness  to  others. — 6.  From  its  efficacy  to 
make  afflictions  lighter. — 7.  From  its  happy  aspect  on  death. 
— 8.  And  on  eternity. — 9.  Whereas  not  to  desire  improvement 
would  argue  a  soul  destitute  of  religion.  A  prayer  suited  to 
the  state  of  a  soul  who  longs  to  attain  the  life  recommended 
above. 

1.  I  have  been  assigning,  in  the  preceding-  chap- 
ter, what,  I  fear,  will  seem  to  some  of  my  readers  so 
hard  a  task,  that  they  will  want  courage  to  attempt  it  ; 
and  indeed  it  is  a  life  in  many  respects  so  far  above  tjiat 
of  the  generality  of  Christians,  that  I  am  not  without 
apprehensions  that  many,  who  deserve  the  name, 
may  think  the  directions,  after  all  the  precautions 
with  which  I  have  proposed  them,  are  carried  to  an 
unnecessary  degree  of  nicety  and  strictness.  But  I 
am  persuaded,  much  of  the  credit  and  comfort  of 
Christianity  is  lost,  in  consequence  of  its  professors 


280         DEVOTION  TO  GOD  URGED. 

fixing  their  aims  too  low,  and  not  conceiving  of 
their  high  and  holy  calling  in  so  elevated  and  su- 
blime a  view  as  the  nature  of  religion  would  require, 
and  the  word  of  God  would  direct.    I  am  fully  con- 
vinced, that  the  expressions  of  "  walking  with  God," 
of  *  being  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  all  the  day  long}' 
(Prov.  23  :  17,)  and,  above  all,  that  of  •■  loving  the 
Lord  our  God  with  all   our  heart,  and  soul,  and 
mind,  and  strength,"  (Mark,  12:  30.)  must  require, 
if  not  all  these  circumstances,  yet  the  substance  of 
all  that  I  have  been  recommending,  so  far  as  we 
have  capacity,  leisure,  and  opportunity ;  and  I  can 
not  but  think  that  many  might  command  more  of 
the  latter,  and  perhaps  improve  their  capacities  too, 
if  they  would  take  a  due  care  in  the  government  of 
themselves ;  if  they  would  give  up  vain  and  unne- 
cessary diversions,  and  certain  indulgences,  which 
only  suit  to  delight  the  lower  part  of  our  nature, 
and,  to  say  the  best  of  them,  deprive  us  of  pleasures 
much  better  than  themselves,  if  they  do  not  plunge 
us  into  guilt.    Many  of  these  rules  would  appear 
easily  practicable,  if  men  would  learn  to  know  the 
value  of  time,  and  particularly  to  redeem  it  from 
unnecessary  sleep,  which  wastes  many  golden  hours 
of  the  day :  hours  in  which  many  of  God's  servants 
are  delighting  themselves  in  him,  and  drinking  in 
full  draughts  of  the  water  of  life;  while  these  their 
brethren  are  slumbering  upon  their  beds,  and  lost  in 
vain  dreams,  as  far  below  the  common  entertain- 


DEVOTION  TO  GOD  URGED.         281 

ments  of  a  rational  creature  as  the  pleasures  of  the 
sublimest  devotion  are  above  them. 

2.  I  know  likewise,  that  the  mind  is  very  fickle 
and  inconstant,  and  that  it  is  a  hard  thing  to  pre- 
serve such  a  government  and  authority  over  our 
thoughts  as  would  be  very  desirable,  and  as  the 
plan  I  have  laid  down  will  require.  But  so  much 
of  the  honor  of  God,  and  so  much  of  our  true  hap- 
piness depends  upon  it,  that  I  beg  you  will  give  me 
a  patient  and  attentive  hearing  while  I  am  pleading 
with  you,  and  that  you  will  seriously. examine  the 
arguments,  and  then  judge,  whether  a  care  and  con- 
duct like  that  which  I  have  advised  be  not  in  itself 
reasonable,  and  whether  it  will  not  be  highly  con- 
ducive to  your  comfort  and  usefulness  in  life,  your 
peace  in  death,  and  the  advancement  and  increase  of 
your  eternal  glory. 

3.  Let  conscience  say,  whether  such  a  life  as  I 
have  described  above  be  not  in  itself  highly  reason- 
able. Look  over  the  substance  of  it  again,  and 
bring  it  under  a  close  examination ;  for  I  am  very 
apprehensive  that  some  weak  objections  may  rise 
against  the  whole,  which  may  in  their  consequence 
affect  particulars,  against  which  no  reasonable  man 
would  presume  to  make  any  objection  at  all.  Re- 
collect, O  Christian !  carry  it  with  you  in  your 
memory  and  your  heart,  while  you  are  pursuing 
this  review,  that  you  are  the  creature  of  God ;  that 
you  are  purchased  with  the  blood  of  Jesus;  and 

24* 


282        DEVOTION  TO  GOD  URGED. 

then  say  whether   these  relations   in  which   you 
stand  do  not  demand  all  that  application  and  reso- 
lution which  I  would  engage  you  to.    Suppose  all 
the  counsels  I  have  given  you  reduced  into  practice; 
suppose  every  day  begun  and  concluded  with  such 
devout  breathings  after  God,  and  such  holy  retire- 
ments for  morning  and  evening  converse  with  him 
and  with  your  own  heart ;  suppose  a  daily  care,  in 
contriving  how  your  time  may  be  managed,  and  in 
reflecting  how  it  has  been  employed ;  suppose  this 
regard  to  God,  this  sense  of  his  presence,  and  zeal 
for  his  glory,  to  run  through  your  acts  of  worship, 
your  hours  of  business  and  recreation  ;  suppose  this 
attention  to  Providence,  this  guard  against  tempta- 
tion, this  dependence   upon   divine  influence,  this 
government  of  the  thoughts  in  solitude,  and  of  the 
discourse  in  company;  nay,  I  will  add  farther,  sup- 
pose every  particular  direction  given  to  be  pursued, 
excepting  when  particular  cases  occur,  with  respect 
to  which  you  shall  be  able  in  conscience  to  say,  "  I 
wave  it  not  from  indolence  and  carelessness,  but  be- 
cause I  think  it  will  be  just  now  more  pleasing  to 
God  to  be  doing  something  else,"  which  may  often 
happen  in  human  life,  where  general  rules  are  best 
concerted :  suppose,  I  say,  all  this  to  be  done,  not 
for  a  day  or  a  week,  but  through  the  remainder  of 
life,  whether  longer  or  shorter  ;  and  suppose  this  to 
be  reviewed  at  the  close  of  life,  in  the  full  exercise 
of  your  rational  faculties ;  will  there  be  reason  to 


DEVOTION  TO  COD  URGED.        283 

say  in  the  reflection,  "  I  have  taken  too  much  pains 
in  religion  ;  the  Author  of  my  being  did  not  deserve 
all  this  from  me ;  less  diligence,  less  fidelity,  less 
zeal  than  this,  might  have  been  an  equivalent  for 
the  blood  which  was  shed  for  my  redemption.  A 
part  of  my  heart,  a  part  of  my  time,  a  part  of  my  la- 
bors, might  have  sufficed  for  him,  who  hath  given 
me  all  my  powers ;  for  him  who  hath  delivered  me 
from  that  destruction  which  would  have  made  them 
my  everlasting  torment ;  for  him  who  is  raising  me 
to  the  regions  of  a  blissful  immortality."  Can  you 
with  any  face  say  this  ?  If  you  cannot,  then  sure- 
ly your  conscience  bears  witness,  that  all  I  have 
recommended,  under  the  limitations  above,  is  rea- 
sonable ;  that  duty  and  gratitude  require  it ;  and 
consequently,  that,  by  every  allowed  failure  in  it, 
you  bring  guilt  upon  your  own  soul,  you  offend 
God,  and  act  unworthy  of  your  Christian  profession. 
4.  I  entreat  you  farther  to  consider  whether  such 
a  conduct  as  I  have  now  been  recommending, 
would  not  conduce  much  to  your  comfort  and  use- 
fulness in  life.  Reflect  seriously  what  is  true  hap- 
piness !  Does  it  consist  in  distance  from  God,  or  in 
nearness  to  him  ?  Surely  you  cannot  be  a  Chris- 
tian, surely  you  cannot  be  a  rational  man,  if  you 
doubt  whether  communion  with  the  great  Father 
of  our  spirits  be  a  pleasure  and  felicity ;  and  if 
it  be,  then  surely  they  enjoy  most  of  it  who  keep 
him  most  constantly  in  view.  You  cannot  but  know, 


284        DEVOTION  TO  GOD  URGED. 

in  your  own  conscience,  that  it  is  this  which  makes 
the  happiness  of  heaven;  and  therefore  the  more  of 
it  any  man  enjoys  upon  earth,  the  more  of  heaven 
comes  down  into  his  soul.  If  you  have  made  any 
trial  of  religion,  though  it  be  but  a  few  months  or 
weeks  since  you  first  became  acquainted  with  it,  you 
must  be  some  judge,  from  your  own  experience, 
which  have  been  the  most  pleasant  days  of  your 
life.  Have  they  not  been  those  in  which  you  have 
acted  most  upon  these  principles?  those  in  which 
you  have  most  steadily  and  resolutely  carried  them 
through  every  hour  of  time,  and  every  circumstance 
of  life  ?  The  check  which  you  must,  in  many  in- 
stances, give  to  your  own  inclinations,  might  seem 
disagreeable  ;  but  it  would  surely  be  overbalanced, 
in  a  most  happy  manner,  by  the  satisfaction  you 
would  find  in  a  consciousness  of  self-government ; 
in  having  such  a  command  of  your  thoughts,  affec- 
tions, and  actions,  as  is  much  more  glorious  than 
any  authority  over  others  can  be. 

5.  I  would  also  entreat  you  to  consider  the  influ 
ence  which  such  a  conduct  as  this  might  have  upon 
the  happiness  of  others.  And  it  is  easy  to  be  seen 
that  it  must  be  very  great ;  as  you  would  find  your 
heart  always  disposed  to  watch  every  opportunity  of 
doing  good,  and  to  seize  it  with  eagerness  and  de- 
light. It  would  engage  you  to  make  it  the  study  and 
business  of  your  life,  to  order  things  in  such  a  man- 
ner, that  the  end  of  one  kind  and  useful  action  might 


DEVOTION    TO    GOD    URGED.  285 

be  the  beginning  of  another  ;  in  which  you  would  go 
on  as  naturally  as  the  inferior  animals  do  in  those 
productions  and  actions  by  which  mankind  are  reliev- 
ed or  enriched;  or  as  the  earth  bears  her  successive 
crops  of  different  vegetable  supplies.  And  though 
mankind  be,  in  this  corrupt  state,  so  unhappily  in- 
clined to  imitate  evil  examples  rather  than  good,  yet 
it  may  be  expected,  that  while  "  your  light  shines 
before  men,"  some,  "  seeing  your  good  works,"  will 
endeavor  to  transcribe  them  in  their  own  lives,  and 
so  to  "glorify  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven." 
Matt.  5:16.  The  charm  of  such  beautiful  models 
would  surely  impress  some,  and  incline  them  at  least 
to  attempt  an  imitation ;  and  every  attempt  would 
dispose  to  another.  And  thus,  through  the  divine 
goodness,  you  might  be  entitled  to  a  share  in  the 
praise,  and  the  reward,  not  only  of  the  good  you 
had  immediately  done  yourself,  but  likewise  of  that 
which  you  had  engaged  others  to  do.  And  no  eye, 
but  that  of  the  all-searching  God,  can  see  into  what 
distant  times  or  places  the  blessed  consequences 
may  reach.  In  every  instance  in  which  these  con- 
sequences appear,  it  will  put  a  generous  and  sublime 
joy  into  your  heart  which  no  worldly  prosperity 
could  afford,  and  which  would  be  the  liveliest  em- 
blem of  that  high  delight  which  the  blessed  God  feels 
in  seeing  and  making  his  creatures  happy. 

6.  It  is  true  indeed,  that  amidst  all  these  pious  and 
benevolent  cares,  afflictions  may  come,  and  in  some 


286         DEVOTION  TO  GOD  URGED. 

measure  interrupt  you  in  the  midst  of  your  project- 
ed schemes.  But  surely  these  afflictions  will  be 
much  lighter,  when  your  heart  is  gladdened  with 
the  peaceful  and  joyful  reflections  of  your  own  mind, 
and  with  so  honorable  a  testimony  of  conscience  be- 
fore God  and  man.  Delightful  will  it  be  to  go  back  to 
past  scenes  in  your  pleasing  review,  and  to  think  that 
you  have  not  only  been  sincerely  humbling  yourself 
for  those  past  offences  which  afflictions  may  bring  to 
your  remembrance ;  but  that  you  have  given  sub- 
stantial proofs  of  the  sincerity  of  that  humiliation,  by 
a  real  reformation  of  what  has  been  amiss,  and  by 
acting  with  strenuous  and  vigorous  resolution  on 
the  contrary  principle.  And  while  converse  with 
God,  and  doing  good  to  men,  are  made  the  great 
business  and  pleasure  of  life,  you  will  find  a  thou- 
sand opportunities  of  enjoyment,  even  in  the  midst  of 
these  afflictions,  which  would  render  you  so  inca- 
pable of  relishing  the  pleasures  of  sense,  that  the 
very  mention  of  them  might,  in  those  circumstances, 
seem  an  insult  and  a  reproach. 

7.  At  length  death  will  come,  that  solemn  and  im- 
portant hour,  which  has  been  passed  through  by  so 
many  thousands  who  have  in  the  main  lived  such  a 
life,  and  by  so  many  millions  who  have  neglected  it. 
And  let  conscience  say,  if  there  was  ever  one  of  all 
these  millions  who  had  any  reason  to  rejoice  in  that 
neglect ;  or  any  one,  among  the  most  strict  and  ex- 
emplary Christians,  who  then  lamented  that  his  heart 


DEVOTION    TO    GOD    URGED.  287 

and  life  had  been  too  zealously  devoted  to  God.  Let 
conscience  say,  whether  they  have  wished  to  have 
a  part  of  that  time,  which  they  have  thus  employed, 
given  back  to  them  again,  that  they  might  be  more 
conformed  to  this  world;  that  they  might  plunge 
ihemselves  deeper  into  its  amusements,  or pursueits 
honors,  its  possessions,  or  its  pleasures,  with  greater 
eagerness  than  they  had  done.  If  you  were  yourself 
dying,  and  a  dear  friend  or  child-stood  near  you,  and 
this  book  and  the  preceding  chapter  should  dhance 
to  come  into  your  thoughts,  would  you  caution  that 
friend  or  child  against  conducting  himself  by  such 
rules  as  I  have  advanced  ?  The  question  may  per- 
haps seem  unnecessary,  where  the  answer  is  so  plain 
and  certain.  Well,  then,  let  me  beseech  you  to  learn 
how  you  should  live,  by  reflecting  how  you  would 
die,  and  what  course  you  would  wish  to  look  back 
upon,  when  you  are  just  quitting  this  world  and  en- 
tering upon  another.  Think  seriously ;  what  if  death 
should  surprise  you  on  a  sudden,  and  you  should  be 
called  into  eternity  at  an  hour's  or  a  minute's  warn- 
ing, would  you  not  wish  that  your  last  day  should 
have  been  thus  begun ;  and  the  course  of  it,  if  it  were 
a  day  of  health  and  activity,  should  have  been  thus 
managed?  Would  you  not  wish  that  your  Lord 
should  find  you  engaged  in  such  thoughts  and  such 
pursuits?  Would  not  the  passage,  the  flight  from 
earth  to  heaven,  be  most  easy,  most  pleasant,  in  this 
view  and  connection?    And,  on  the  other  hand,  if 


\ 
288       DEVOTION  TO  GOD  URGED. 

death  should  make  more  gradual  approaches,  would 
not  the  remembrance  of  such  a  pious,  holy,  humble, 
diligent,  and  useful  life,  make  a  dying  bed  much 
softer  and  easier  than  it  would  otherwise  be  %    You 
would  not  die,  depending  upon  these  things.    God 
forbid  that  you  should  !    Sensible  of  your  many  im- 
perfections, you  would,  no  doubt,  desire  to  throw 
yourself  at  the  feet  of  Christ,  that  you  might  appear 
before  God,  "adorned  with  his  righteousness,  and 
washed  from  your  sins  in  his  blood."    You  would 
also,  with  your  dying  breath,  ascribe  to  the  riches  of 
his  grace  every  good  disposition  you  had  found  in 
your  heart,  and  every  worthy  action  you  had  been 
enabled  to  perform.  But  would  it  not  give  you  a  de- 
light, worthy  of  being  purchased  with  ten  thousand 
worlds,  to  reflect  that  his  "  grace,  bestowed  on  you, 
had  not  been  in  vain,"  (1  Cor.  15  :  10,)  but  that  you 
had,  from  a  humble  principle  of  grateful  love,  '  glori- 
fied your  heavenly  Father  on  earth,  and,  in  some  de- 
gree, though  not  with  the  perfection  you  could  desire, 
"finished  the  work  which  he  had  given  you  to  do:" 
(John,  17  :  4.)  that  you  had  been  living  for  many 
past  years  as  on  the  borders  of  heaven,  and  endea- 
voring to  form  your  heart  and  life  to  the  temper  and 
manners  of  its  inhabitants  % 

8.  And  once  more,  let  me  entreat  you  to  reflect  on 
the  view  you  will  have  of  this  matter  when  you 
come  into  a  world  of  glory,  if  (which  I  hope  will  be 
the  happy  case)  divine  mercy  conduct  you  thither  \ 


DEVOTION    TO    GOD    URGED.  289 

Will  not  your  reception  there  be  affected  by  your 
care,  or  negligence,  in  this  holy  course  ?  Will  it  ap- 
pear an  indifferent  thing  in  the  eye  of  the  blessed 
Jesus,  who  distributes  the  crowns,  and  allots  the 
thrones  there,  whether  you  have  been  among  the 
most  zealous,  or  the  most  indolent  of  his  servants? 
Surely  you  must  wish  to  have  "an  entrance  admi- 
nistered unto  you  abundantly  into  the  kingdom  of 
your  Lord  and  Savior,"  (2  Pet.  1  :  1 1,)  and  what  can 
more  certainly  conduce  to  it,  than  to  be  "  always 
abounding  in  this  work  ?"  I  Cor.  15  :  58.  You  can- 
not think  so  meanly  of  that  glorious  state,  as  to  ima- 
gine that  you  shall  there  look  round  about  with  a 
secret  disappointment,  and  say  in  your  heart  that 
you  over-valued  the  inheritance  you  have  received, 
and  pursued  it  with  too  much  earnestness.  You  will 
not  surely  complain  that  it  had  too  many  of  your 
thoughts  and  cares ;  but,  on  tho  contrary,  you  have 
the  highest  reason  to  believe,  that,  if  any  thing  were 
capable  of  exciting  your  indignation  and  your  grief 
there,  it  would  be,  that,  amidst  so  many  motives  and 
so  many  advantages,  you  exerted  yourself  no  more 
in  the  prosecution  of  such  a  prize. 

9.  But  I  will  not  enlarge  on  so  clear  a  case,  and 
therefore  conclude  the  chapter  with  reminding  you, 
that  to  allow  yourself  deliberately  to  sit  down  satis- 
fied with  any  imperfect  attainments  in  religion,  and 
to  look  upon  a  more  confirmed  and  improved  state 
of  it  as  what  you  do  not  desire,  nay,  as  what  you 
25 


290        DEVOTION  TO  GOD  URGED. 

sincerely  resolve  that  you  will  not  pursue,  is  one  of 
the  most  fatal  signs  we  can  well  imagine,  that  you 
are  an  entire  stranger  to  the  first  principles  of  it. 

A  Prayer  suited,  to  the  State  of  a  Soul  who  desires  to  attain 
the  Life  above  recommended. 

"  Blessed  God !  I  cannot  contradict  the  force  of 
these  reasonings  :  O  that  I  may  feel  more  than  ever 
the  lasting  effects  of  them  !  Thou  art  the  great  foun- 
tain of  being  and  of  happiness ;  and  as  from  thee  my 
being  was  derived,  so  from  thee  my  happiness  di- 
rectly flows ;  and  t}ie  nearer  I  am  to  thee*the  purer 
and  more  delicious  is  the  stream.  '  With  thee  is  the 
fountain  of  life ;  in  thy  light  may  I  see  light !'  Psal. 
36  :  9.  The  great  object  of  my  final  hope  is  to  dwell 
for  ever  with  thee.  Give  me  now  some  foretaste  of 
that  delight !  Give  me,  I  beseech  thee,  to  experience 
'  the  blessedness  of  that  man  who  feareth  the  Lord, 
and  who  delighteth  greatly  in  his  commandments,' 
(Psal.  112:  1,)  and  so  form  my  heart  by  thy  grace, 
that  I  may  •  be  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  all  the  day 
long.'  Prov.  23  :  17. 

"  To  thee  may  my  awakening  thoughts  be  di- 
rected :  and  with  the  first  ray  of  light  that  visits  my 
opening  eyes,  '  lift  up,  0  Lord,  the  light  of  thy  coun- 
tenance upon  me!'  Psal.  4  :  6.  When  my  faculties 
are  roused  from  that  broken  state  in  which  they  lay, 
while  buried,  and,  as  it  were,  annihilated  in  sleep, 


DEVOTION  TO  GOD  URGED.        291 

may  my  first  actions  be  consecrated  to  thee,  O  God, 
who  givest  me  light;  who  givest  me,  as  it  were, 
every  morning  a  new  life  and  a  new  reason  !  Enable 
my  heart  to  pour  out  itself  before  thee  with  a  filial 
reverence,  freedom,  and  endearment !  And  may  I 
hearken  to  God,  as  I  desire  that  he  should  hearken 
unto  me !  May  thy  word  be  read  with  attention  and 
pleasure  !  May  my  soul  be  delivered  into  the  mold 
of  it,  and  may  I  '  hide  it  in  my  heart,  that  I  may  not 
sin  against  thee  !'  Psal.  119:  11.  Animated  by  the 
great  motives  there  suggested,  may  I  every  morning 
be  renewing  the  dedication  of  myself  to  thee,  through 
Jesus  Christ  thy  beloved  Son ;  and  be  deriving  from 
him  new  supplies  of  that  blessed  Spirit  of  thine, 
whose  influences  are  the  life  of  my  soul. 

"  And  being  thus  prepared,  do  thou,  Lord,  lead 
me  forth  by  the  hand  to  all  the  duties  and  events  of 
the  day !  In  that  calling,  wherein  thou  hast  been 
pleased  to  call  me,  may  I  abide  with  thee,  (1  Cor. 
7  :  20,)  not  ■  being  slothful  in  business,'  but  '  fervent 
in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord  !'  Rom.  12  :  11.  May  I 
know  the  value  of  time,  and  always  improve  it  to 
the  best  advantage,  in  such  duties  as  thou  hast  as- 
signed me,  how  low  soever  they  may  seem,  or  how 
painful  soever  they  may  be !  To  thy  glory,  O  Lord, 
may  the  labors  of  life  be  pursued ;  and  to  thy  glory 
may  the  refreshments  of  it  be  sought !  ■  Whether  I 
eat,  or  drink,  or  whatever  I  do,'  (1  Cor.  10  :  31,) 
may  that  end  still  be  kept  in  view,  and  may  it  be  at- 


292        DEVOTION  TO  GOD  URGED. 

tained !  And  may  every  refreshment,  and  release 
from  business,  prepare  me  to  serve  thee  with  greater 
vigor  and  resolution ! 

"  May  my  eye  be  watchful  to  observe  the  descent 
of  mercies  from  thee;  and  may  a  grateful  sense  of 
thy  hand  in  them  add  a  savor  and  relish  to  all! 
And  when  afflictions  come,  which  in  a  world  like 
this  I  would  accustom  myself  to  expect,  may  I  re- 
member that  they  come  from  thee ;  and  may  that 
fully  reconcile  me  to  them,  while  I  firmly  believe 
that  the  same  love  which  gives  us  our  daily  bread, 
appoints  us  our  daily  crosses ;  which  I  would  learn 
to  take  up,  that  I  may  follow  my  dear  Lord,  (Mark, 
8  :  34,)  with  a  temper  like  that  which  he  manifested 
when  ascending  Calvary  for  my  sake :  saying,  like 
him,  '  The  cup  which  my  Father  hath  given  me,  shall 
I  not  drink  it?'  John,  18  :  11.  And  when  I  'enter 
into  temptation,'  do  thou,  Lord,  'deliver  me  from 
evil.'  Matt.  6:13.  Make  me  sensible,  I  entreat  thee, 
of  my  own  weakness,  that  my  heart  may  be  raised 
to  thee  for  present  communications  of  proportionable 
strength.  When  I  am  engaged  in  the  society  of 
others,  may  it  be  my  desire  and  my  care  that  I  may 
do  and  receive  as  much  good  as  possible ;  and  may 
I  continually  answer  the  great  purposes  of  life,  by 
honoring  thee,  and  diffusing  useful  knowledge  and 
happiness  in  the  world.  And  when  1  am  alone,  may 
I  remember  my  '  heavenly  Father  is  with  me ;'  and 
may  I  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  thy  presence,  and  feel 


DEVOTION    TO    G09>  URGED.  293 

the  animating  power  of  it  awakening  my  soul  to  an 
earnest  desire  to  think  and  act  as  in  thy  sight! 

"  Thus  let  my  days  be  spent ;  and  let  them  always 
be  closed  in  thy  fear,  and  under  a  sense  of  thy  gra- 
cious presence.  Meet  me,  O  Lord,  in  my  evening 
retirements.  May  I  choose  the  most  proper  time  for 
them  j  may  I  diligently  attend  to  reading  and  prayer ; 
and  when  I  review  my  conduct,  may  I  do  it  with 
an  impartial  eye.  Let  not  self-love  spread  a  false 
coloring  over  it;  but  may  I  judge  myself,  as  one  that 
expects  to  be  judged  of  the  Lord,  and  is  very  solicit- 
ous he  may  be  approved  by  thee,  who  '  searchest 
all  hearts,'  and  '  canst  not  forget  any  of  my  works.' 
Amos,  8:7.'  Let  my  prayer  come  before  thee  as 
incense,'  and  '  let  the  lifting  up  of  my  hands  be  as 
the  morning  and  the  evening  sacrifice.'  Psal.  141  : 
2.  May  I  resign  my  powers  to  sleep  in  sweet  calm- 
ness and  serenity ;  conscious  that  I  have  lived  to  God 
in  the  day,  and  cheerfully  persuaded  that  I  am  'ac- 
cepted of  thee  in  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord,'  and  humbly 
*  hoping  in  thy  mercy  through  him,'  whether  my 
days  on  earth  be  prolonged,  or  '  the  residue  of  them 
be  cut  off  in,  the  midst.'  Isaiah,  37  :  10.  If  death 
comes  by  a  leisurely  advance,  may  it  find  me  thus 
employed ;  and  if  I  am  called  on  a  sudden  to  ex- 
change worlds,  may  my  last  days  and  hours  be  found 
to  have  been  conducted  by  such  maxims  as  these; 
that  I  may  have  a  sweet  and  easy  passage  from  the 
services  of  time  to  the  infinitely  nobler  services  of  an 
25# 


294  TEMPTATIONS    TO    BE    RESISTED. 

immortal  state.  I  ask  it  through  him,  who,  while  on 
earth,  was  the  fairest  pattern  and  example  of  every 
virtue  and  grace,  and  who  now  lives  and  reigns  with 
thee,  •  able  to  save  unto  the  uttermost:'  (Heb.  7  :  25,) 
to  him,  having  done  all,  I  would  fly,  with  humble 
acknowledgment  that  I  am  an  '  unprofitable  ser- 
vant;' (Luke,  17  :  10,)  'to  him  be  glory  for  ever  and 


CHAPTER  XXL 


A  CAUTION  AGAINST  VARIOUS  TEMPTATIONS,  B7  WHICH  THE 
YOUNG  CONVERT  MAY  BE  DRAWN  ASIDE  FROM  THE  COURSE 
RECOMMENDED   ABOVE. 

1.  Dangers  continue,  after  the  first  difficulties  {considered 
Chap,  xvi.)  are  broken  through. — 2.  Particular  cautions — 
against  a  sluggish  and  indolent  temper. — 3.  Against  the  ex- 
cessive love  of  sensitive  pleasure. — 1.  Leading  to  a  neglect  of 

-  business  and  needless  expense. — 5.  Against  the  snares  of  evil 
company. — 6.  Against  excessive  hurry  of  worldly  business. 
— 7.  Which  is  enforced  by  the  fatal  consequences  these  have 
had  in  many  cases. — 8.  The  chapter  concludes  with  an  ex- 
hortation to  die  to  this  world,  and  to  live  to  another.  And 
the  young  Convert's  prayer  for  Divine  protection  against  the 
dangers  arising  from  these  snares. 

1.  The  representation  I  have  been  making  of  the 
pleasure  and  advantage  of  a  life  spent  in  devotedness 


TEMPTATIONS    TO    BE    RESISTED.  295 

to  God  and  communion  with  him,  as  I  have  describ- 
ed it  above,  will,  I  hope,  engage  you,  my  dear  read- 
er, to  form  some  purposes,  and  make  some  attempt 
to  obtain  it.  But  from  considering  the  nature,  and 
observing  the  course  of  things,  it  appears  exceed- 
ingly evident,  that,  besides  the  general  opposition 
which  I  formerly  mentioned  as  like  to  attend  you 
in  your  first  entrance  on  a  religious  life,  you  will  find 
even  that,  after  you  have  resolutely  broke  through 
this,  a  variety  of  hinderances  in  any  attempts  of 
exemplary  piety,  and  in  the  prosecution  of  a  re- 
markably strict  and  edifying  course,  will  present 
themselves  daily  in  your  path;  and  whereas  you 
may,  by  a  few  resolute  efforts,  baffle  some  of  the  for- 
mer sort  of  enemies,  these  will  be  perpetually  renew- 
ing their  onsets,  and  a  vigorous  struggle  must  be 
continually  maintained  with  them.  Give  me  leave 
now,  therefore,  to  be  particular  in  my  cautions 
against  some  of  the  chief  of  them. '  And  here  I 
would  insist  upon  the  difficulties  which  will  arise 
from  indolence  and  the  love  of  pleasure;  from  vain 
company,  and  worldly  cares.  Each  of  these  may 
prove  ensnaring  to  any,  and  especially  to  young  per- 
sons, to  whom  I  would  now  have  some  particular 
regard. 

2.  I  entreat  you,  therefore,  in  the  first  place,  that 
you  will  guard  against  a  sluggish  and  indolent 
temper.  The  love  of  ease  insinuates  itself  into  the 
heart  under  a  variety  of  plausible  pretences,  which 


296  TEMPTATIONS    TO    BE    RESISTED. 

are  often  allowed  to  pass,  when  temptations  of  a 
grosser  nature  would  not  be  admitted.    The  mis- 
spending a  little  time  seems  to  wise  and  good  men 
but  a  small  matter ;  yet  this  sometimes  runs  them 
into  great  inconveniencies.    It  often  leads  them  to 
break  in  upon  the  seasons  regularly  allotted  to  devo- 
tion, and  to  defer  business  which  might  immediately 
be  done,  but  being  put  off  from  day  to  day,  is  not 
done  at  all,  and  thereby  the  services  of  life  are  at 
least  diminished,  and  the  rewards  of  eternity  dimi- 
nished proportionably :  not  to  insist  upon  it,  that  very 
frequently  this  lays  the  soul  open  to  farther  tempta- 
tions, by  which  it  falls,  in  consequence  of  being  found 
unemployed.     Be  therefore  suspicious  of  the  first 
approaches  of  this  kind.    Remember  that  the  soul  of 
man  is  an  active  being,  and  that  it  must  find  its  plea- 
sure in  activity.   ''Gird  up,"  therefore,  "the  loins  of 
your  mind."  .   1  Peter,  1  :  13.     Endeavor  to  keep 
yourself  always  well  employed.    Be  exact,  if  I  may 
with  humble  reverence  use  the  expression,  in  your 
appointments  with    God.    Meet    him  early  in  the 
morning ;  and  say  not  with  the  sluggard,  when  the 
proper  hour  of  rising  is  come,  "A  little  more  sleep, 
a  little  more  slumber."     Prov.  6  :  10.     That  time 
which  prudence  shall  advise  you,  give  to  conversation 
and  to  other  recreations.    But  when  that  is  elapsed, 
and  no  unforeseen  and  important  engagement  pre- 
vents, rise  and  begone.    Q.uit  the  company  of  your 
dearest  friends,  and  retire   to   your   proper   busi- 


TEMPTATIONS    TO    BE    RESISTED.  297 

ness,  whether  it  be  in  the  field,  the  shop,  or  the 
closet.  For  by  acting-  contrary  to  the  secret  dictates 
of  your  mind  as  to  what  it  is  just  at  the  present  mo- 
ment best  to  do,  though  it  be  but  in  the  manner  of 
spending  half  an  hour,  some  degree  of  guilt  is  con- 
tracted, and  a  habit  is  cherished,  which  may  draw  af- 
ter it  much  worse  consequences.  Consider,  therefore, 
what  duties  are  to  be  despatched,  and  in  what  sea- 
sons. Form  your  plan  as  prudently  as  you  can,  and 
pursue  it  resolutely ;  unless  an  unexpected  incident 
arises,  which  leads  you  to  conclude  that  duty  calls 
you  another  way.  Allowances  for  such  unthought- 
of  interruptions  must  be  made ;  but  if,  in  consequence 
of  this,  you  are  obliged  to  omit  any  thing  of  impor- 
tance which  you  proposed  to  have  done  to-day,  do  it 
if  possible  to-morrow  ;  and  do  not  cut  yourself  out 
new  work,  till  the  former  plan  be  despatched ;  un- 
less you  really  judge  it,  not  merely  more  amusing, 
but  more  important.  And  always  remember,  that  a 
servant  of  Christ  should  see  to  it,  that  he  determine 
on  these  occasions  as  in  his  Master's  presence. 

3.  Guard  also  against  an  excessive  love  of  sensi- 
tive and  animal  pleasure,  as  that  which  will  be  a  great 
hinderance  to  you  in  that  religious  course  which 
I  have  now  been  urging.  You  cannot  but  know 
that  Christ  has  told  us,  "that  a  man  must  deny 
himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  daily,"  (Luke,  9 : 
23,)  if  he  desire  to  become  his  disciple.  Christ,  the 
Son  cf  God,  "  the  former  an<f  the  heir  of  all  things, 


298  TEMPTATIONS    TO    BE    RESISTED. 

pkased  not  himself,"  (Rom.  15  :  3,)  but  submitted 
to  want,  to  difficulties,  and  hardships,  in  the  way  of 
duty,  and  some  of  them  of  the  extremest  kind  and 
degree,  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of 
men.  In  this  way  we  are  to  follow  him ;  and  as 
we  know  not  how  soon  we  may  be  called,  even  to 
"  resist  unto  blood,  striving  against  sin,"  (Heb.  12: 
4,)  it  is  certainly  best  to  accustom  ourselves  to  that 
discipline  which  we  may  possibly  be  called  out  to 
exercise,  even  in  such  rigorous  heights.  A  soft  and 
delicate  life  will  give  force  to  temptations,  which 
might  easily  be  subdued  by  one  who  has  habituated 
himself  to  "endure  hardships  as  a  good  soldier  of 
Jesus  Christ."  2  Tim.  2:3.  It  also  produces  an 
attachment  to  this  world,  and  an  unwillingness  to 
leave  it,  which  ill  becomes  those  who  are  strangers 
and  pilgrims  on  earth,  and  who  expect  so  soon  to 
be  called  away  to  that  better  country  which  they 
"profess  to  seek."  Heb.  11:  13,  16.  Add  to  this, 
that,  what  the  world  calls  a  life  of  pleasure,  is  ne- 
cessarily a  life  of  expense  too,  and  may  perhaps 
lead  you,  as  it  has  many  others,  and  especially 
many  who  have  been  setting  out  in  the  world,  be- 
yond the  limits  which  Providence  has  assigned; 
and  so,  after  a  course  of  indulgence,  may  produce  a 
proportionable  want.  And  while  in  other  cases  it 
is  true  that  pity  should  be  shown  to  the  poor,  this 
is  a  poverty  that  is  justly  contemptible,  because  it 
is  the  effect  of  a  man's  own  folly ;  and  when  your 


TEMPTATIONS    TO    BE    RESISTED.  299 

"  want  thus  comes  upon  you  as  an  armed  man," 
(Prov.  6:  11,)  you  will  not  enly  find  yourself  strip- 
ped of  the  capacity  you  might  otherwise  have  secured 
for  performing  those  works  of  charity  which  are  so 
ornamental  to  a  Christian  profession,  but  probably 
will  be  under  strong  temptations  to  some  low  artifice 
or  mean  compliance,  quite  beneath  the  Christian 
character  and  that  of  an  upright  man.  Many,  who 
once  made  a  high  profession,  after  a  series  of  such 
sorry  and  scandalous  shifts,  have  fallen  into  the  in- 
famy of  the  worst  kind  of  bankrupts;  I  mean  such 
as  have  lavished  away  on  themselves  what  was  in- 
deed the  property  of  others,  and  so  have  injured,  and 
perhaps  ruined,  the  industrious,  to  feed  a  foolish, 
luxurious,  or  ostentatious  humor,  which,  while  in- 
dulged, was  the  shame  of  their  own  families,  and 
when  it  can  be  indulged  no  longer,  is  their  torment. 
This  will  be  a  terrible  reproach  to  religion  :  such  a 
reproach  to  it,  that  a  good  man  would  rather  choose 
to  live  on  bread  and  water,  or  indeed  to  die  for  want 
of  them,  than  to  occasion  it. 

4.  Guard,  therefore,  I  beseech  you,  against  any 
thing  which  might  tend  that  way,  especially  by  dili- 
gence in  business,  and  by  prudence  and  frugality  in 
expense,  which,  by  the  Divine  blessing,  may  have  a 
very  happy  influence  to  make  your  affairs  prosper- 
ous, your  health  vigorous,  and  your  mind  easy. 
But  this  cannot  be  attained  without  keeping  a  reso- 
lute watch  over  yourself,  and  strenuously  refusing 


300  TEMPTATIONS    TO    BE    RESISTED. 

to  comply  with  many  proposals  which  indolence  or 
sensuality  will  offer  in  very  plausible  forms,  and  for 
which  it  will  plead,  "  that  it  asks  but  very  little." 
Take  heed,  lest  in  this  respect  you  imitate  those 
fond  parents,  who,  by  indulging  their  children  in 
every  little  thing  they  have  a  mind  to,  encourage 
them,  by  insensible  degrees,  to  grow  still  more  en- 
croaching and  imperious  in  their  demands;  as  if 
they  chose  to  be  ruined  with  them,  rather  than  to 
check  them  in  what  seems  a  trifle.  Remember,  and 
consider  that  excellent  remark,  sealed  by  the  ruin  of 
so  many  thousands :  "  He  that  despiseth  small  things, 
shall  fall  by  little  and  little." 

5.  In  this  view,  give  me  leave  also  seriously  and 
tenderly  to  caution  you,  my  dear  reader,  against  the 
snares  of  vain  company.  I  speak  not,  as  before,  of 
that  company  which  is  openly  licentious  and  profane. 
I  hope  there  is  something  now  in  your  temper  and 
views,  which  would  engage  you  to  turn  away  from 
such  with  detestation  and  horror.  But  I  beseech 
you  to  consider,  that  those  companions  may  be  very 
dangerous,  who  might  at  first  give  you  but  very 
little  alarm  :  I  mean  those  who,  though  not  the  de- 
clared enemies  of  religion,  and  professed  followers 
of  vice  and  disorder,  yet  nevertheless  have  no  practi- 
cal sense  of  divine  things  on  their  hearts,  so  far  as 
can  be  judged  by  their  conversation  and  behavior. 
You  must  often  of  necessity  be  with  such  persons; 
and  Christianity  not  only  allows,  but  requires,  that 


TEMPTATIONS    TO    BE    RESISTED.  SOI 

you  should,  on  all  expedient  occasions  of  intercourse 
with  them,  treat  them  with  civility  and  respect  j  but 
choose  not  such  for  your  most  intimate  friends,' and 
do  not  contrive  to  spend  most  of  your  leisure'  mo- 
ments among  them.      For  such  converse  has  a  sen- 
sible tendency  to  alienate  the  soul  from  God,  and  to 
render  it  unfit  for  all  spiritual  communion  with  him. 
To  convince  you  of  this,  do  but  reflect  on  your  own 
experience,  when  you  have  been  for  many  hours 
together  among  persons  of  such  a  character.    Do 
you  not  find  yourself  more  indisposed  for  devotional 
exercises  ?  Do  you  not  find  your  heart,  by  insensible 
degrees,  more  and  more  inclined  to  a  conformity  to 
this  world,  and  to  look  with  a  secret  disrelish  on  those 
objects  and  employments  to  which  reason  directs  as 
the  noblest  and  best?    Observe  the  first  symptoms, 
and  guard  against  the  snare  in  time:  and  for  this 
purpose,  endeavor  to  form  friendships  founded  in 
piety,  and  supported  by  it.  "  Be  a  companion  of  them 
that  fear  God,  and  of  them  that  keep  his  precepts  " 
Psalm  1 19  :  63.    You  well  know,  that  in  the  sight 
of  God  "they  are  the  excellent  of  the  earth ;"  let 
them  therefore  "be  all  your  delight."  Psalm  16 :  3. 
And  that  the  peculiar  benefit  of  their  friendship  may 
not  be  lost,  endeavor  to  make  the  best  of  the  hours 
you  spend  with  them.  The  wisest  of  men  has  observ 
ed  that  when  "  counsel  in  the  heart  of  a  man  is  like 
deep  waters,"  that  is,  when  it  lies  low  and  concealed, 
"  a  man  of  understanding  will  draw  it  out."  Prov.  20: 
26 


302  TEMPTATIONS    TO    BE    RESISTED. 

5.  Endeavor,  therefore,  on  such  occasions,  so  far 
as  you  can  do  it  with  decency  and  convenience,  to 
give  the  conversation  a  religious  turn.  And  when 
serious  and  useful  subjects  are  started  in  your  pre- 
sence, lay  hold  of  them,  and  cultivate  them  ;  and  for 
that  purpose  "  let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell  richly  in 
you,"  (Col.  3:  1,)  and  be  continually  made  "the 
man  of  your  counsel."  Psalm  119  :  24. 

6.  If  it  be  so,  it  will  secure  you  not  only  from  the 
snares  of  idleness  and  luxury,  but  from  the  contagion 
of  every  bad  example.  And  it  will  also  engage  you 
to  guard  against  those  excessive  hurries  of  worldly 
business,  which  would  fill  up  all  your  time  and 
thoughts,  and  thereby  "  choke  the  good  word  "  of 
God,  and  render  it  in  a  great  measure,  if  not  quite, 
unfruitful.  Matt.  13  :  22.  Young  people  are  gene- 
rally of  an  enterprising  disposition  :  having  ex- 
perienced comparatively  little  of  the  fatigue  of  busi- 
ness, and  of  the  disappointments  and  incumbrances 
of  life,  they  easily  swallow  them  up  and  annihilate 
them  in  their  imagination,  and  fancy  that  their  spirit, 
their  application,  and  address,  will  be  able  to  en- 
counter and  surmount  every  obstacle  or  hinderance. 
But  the  event  proves  it  otherwise.  Let  me  entreat 
you,  therefore,  to  be  cautious  how  you  plunge  your- 
self into  a  greater  variety  of  business  than  you  are 
capable  of  managing  as  you  ought,  that  is,  in  con- 
sistency with  the  care  of  your  soul  and  the  service 
of  God,  which  certainly  ought  not  on  any  pretence  to 


TEMPTATIONS    TO    BE    RESISTED.  303 

be  neglected.  It  is  true  indeed,  that  a  prudent  regard 
to  your  worldly  interest  would  require  such  a  cau- 
tion ;  as  it  is  obvious  to  every  careful  observer,  that 
multitudes  are  undone  by  grasping  at  more  than 
they  can  conveniently  manage.  Hence  it  has  fre- 
quently been  seen,  that,  while  they  have  seemed  re- 
solved to  be  rich,  they  have  "pierced  themselves 
through  with  many  sorrows,"  (1  Tim.  6  :  10,)  have 
ruined  their  own  families,  and  drawn  down  many 
others  into  desolation  with  them.  Whereas,  could 
they  have  been  contented  with  moderate  employ- 
ments and  moderate  gains,  they  might  have  pros- 
pered in  their  business,  and  might,  by  sure  degrees, 
under  a  divine  blessing,  have  advanced  to  great  and 
honorable  increase.  But  if  there  were  no  danger  at 
all  to  be  apprehended  on  this  head,  if  you  were  as 
certain  of  becoming  rich  and  great,  as  you  are  of 
perplexing  and  fatiguing  yourself  in  the  attempt, 
consider,  I  beseech  you,  how  precarious  these  en- 
joyments  are.  Consider  how  often  "  a  plentiful  table 
becomes  a  snare,  and  that  which  should  have  been 
for  a  man's  welfare,  becomes  a  trap."  Psalm  69  : 
22.  Forget  not  that  short  lesson,  which  is  so  com- 
prehensive of  the  highest  wisdom  :  "  One  thing  is 
needful."  Luke,  10  :  42.  Be  daily  thinking,  while 
the  gay  and  the  great  things  of  life  are  glittering 
before  your  eyes,  how  soon  death  will  come,  and 
impoverish  you  at  once :  how  soon  it  will  strip  you 
of  all  possessions    but  those  which  a  naked  soul 


304  TEMPTATIONS    TO    BE    RESISTED. 

can  carry  along  with  it  into  eternity,  when  it  drops 
the  body  into  the  grave.  Eternity  !  Eternity! 
Eternity  !  Carry  the  view  of  it  about  with  you, 
if  it  be  possible,  through  every  hour  of  waking  life; 
and  be  fully  persuaded  that  you  have  no  business, 
no  interest  in  life,  that  is  inconsistent  with  it ;  for 
whatsoever  would  be  injurious  in  view  of  eternity, 
is  not  your  business,  is  not  your  interest.  You  see 
indeed,  that  the  generality  of  men  act  as  if  they 
thought  the  great  thing  which  God  requires  of  them, 
in  order  to  secure  his  favor,  was  to  get  as  much  of 
the  world  as  possible :  at  least  as  much  as  they  can 
without  any  gross  immorality,  and  without  risking 
the  loss  of  all.  Such  persons  may  tell  others,  and 
perhaps  flatter  themselves,  that  they  only  seek  op- 
portunities of  greater  usefulness.  But  in  effect,  if 
they  mean  any  thing  more  by  this  than  a  capacity 
of  usefulness,  which,  when  they  have  it,  they  will  not 
exert,  they  generally  deceive  themselves ;  and,  one 
way  or  another,  it  is  a  vain  pretence.  In  most  in- 
stances men  seek  the  world — either  that  they  may 
hoard  up  riches  for  the  mean  and  scandalous  satis- 
faction of  looking  upon  them  while  they  are  living, 
and  of  thinking,  that,  when  they  are  dead,  it  will  be 
said  of  them  that  they  have  left  so  many  hundreds 
or  thousands  of  pounds  behind  them  ;  very  probably, 
to  ensnare  their  children,  or  their  heirs,  (for  the  va- 
nity is  not  peculiar  to  those  who  have  children  of 
their  own,) — or  else  that  they  may  lavish  away  their 


TEMPTATIONS    TO    BE    RESISTED.  305 

riches  on  their  lusts,  and  drown  themselves  in  a 
gulf  of  sensuality,  in  which,  if  reason  be  not  lost,  re- 
ligion is  soon  swallowed  up,  and  with  it  all  the  no- 
blest pleasures  which  can  enter  into  the  heart  of  man. 
In  this  view,  the  generality  of  rich  people  appear  to 
me  objects  of  much  greater  compassion  than  the 
poor:  especially  as,  when  both  live  (which  is  fre- 
quently the  case)  without  any  fear  of  God  before 
their  eyes,  the  rich  abuse  the  greater  variety  and 
abundance  of  their  favors,  and  therefore  will  pro- 
bably feel,  in  that  world  of  future  ruin  which  awaits 
impenitent  sinners,  a  more  exquisite  sense  of  their 
misery. 

7.  And  let  me  observe  to  you,  my  dear  reader, 
lest  you  should  think  yourself  secure  from  any  such 
danger,  that  we  have  great  reason   to  apprehend 
there  are  many  now  in  a  very  wretched  state,  who 
once  thought  seriously  of  religion,  when  they  were 
first  setting  out,  in  lower  circumstances  of  life;  but 
they  have  since  forsaken  God  for   Mammon,'  and 
are  now  priding  themselves  in  those  golden  chains, 
which,  in  all  probability,  before   it   be   long,  will 
leave  them  to  remain  in  those  of  darkness.    When 
therefore,  an   attachment  to  the  world  may  be  fol- 
lowed with  such  fatal  consequences,  "let  not  thine 
heart  envy  sinners,"  (Prov.  23  :  17,)  and  do  not,  out 
of  a  desire  of  gaining  what  they  have,  be  guilty  of 
such  folly  as  to  expose  yourself  to  this  double  danger 
of  failing  in  the  attempt,  or  of  being  undone  by  the 
26* 


306  TEMPTATIONS    TO    BE    RESISTED. 

success  of  it.  Contract  your  desires ;  endeavor  to 
be  easy  and  content  with  a  little  ;  and  if  Providence 
call  you  out  to  act  in  a  larger  sphere,  submit  to  it  in 
obedience  to  Providence,  but  number  it  among  the 
trials  of  life,  which  it  will  require  a  larger  propor- 
tion of  grace  to  bear  well.  For  be  assured,  that,  as 
affairs  and  interests  multiply,  cares  and  duties  will 
certainly  increase,  and  probably  disappointments  and 
sorrows  will  increase  in  an  equal  proportion. 

8.  On  the  whole,  learn,  by  divine  grace,  to  die  to 
the  present  world  ;  to  look  upon  it  as  a  low  state  of 
being,  which  God  never  intended  for  the  final  and 
complete  happiness,  or  the  supreme  care  of  any  one 
of  his  children :  a  world,  where  something  is  indeed 
to  be  enjoyed,  but  chiefly  from  himself;  where  a 
great  deal  is  to  be  borne  with  patience  and  resigna- 
tion ;  and  where  some  important  duties  are  to  be  per- 
formed, and  a  course  of  discipline  to  be  passed 
through,  by  which  you  are  to  be  formed  for  a  better 
state,  to  which,  as  a  Christian,  you  are  near,  and  to 
which  God  will  call  you,  perhaps  on  a  sudden,  but 
undoubtedly,  if  you  hold  on  your  way,  in  the  fittest 
time  and  the  most  convenient  manner.  Refer,  there- 
fore, all  this  to  him.  Let  your  hopes  and  fears,  your 
expectations  and  desires,  with  regard  to  this  world, 
be  kept  as  low  as  possible ;  and  all  your  thoughts 
be  united,  as  much  as  may  be,  in  this  one  centre  : 
what  is  it  that  God  would,  in  present  circumstances, 
haye  you  to  be :  and  what  is  that  method  of  con- 


PRAYER    AGAINST    TEMPTATION.  307 

duct  by  which  you  may  most  effectually  please  and 
glorify  him. 

The  Young  Convert's  Prayer  for  Divine  Protection  against 
the  Danger  of  these  Snares. 

"Blessed  God!  In  the  midst  often  thousand 
snares  and  dangers,  which  surround  me  from  with- 
out and  from  within,  permit  me  to  look  up  unto  thee 
with  my  humble  entreaty,  that  thou  wouldst  '  deliver 
me  from  them  that  rise  up  against  me,'  (Psalm  59  : 
1.)  and  that  'thine  eyes  may  be  upon  me  for  good.' 
Jer.  24  :  6.  When  sloth  and  indolence  are  ready  to 
seize  me,  awaken  me  from  that  idle  dream,  with  live- 
ly and  affectionate  views  of  that  invisible  and  eter- 
nal world  to  which  I  am  tending!  Remind  me  of 
what  infinite  importance  it  is,  that  I  diligently  im- 
prove those  transient  moments  which  thou  hast  allot- 
ted me  as  the  time  of  my  preparation  for  it. 

"When  sinners  entice  me,  may  I  not  consent! 
Prov.  1  :  10.  May  holy  converse  with  God  give 
me  a  disrelish  for  the  converse  of  those  who  are 
strangers  to  thee,  and  who  would  separate  my  soul 
from  thee  !  May  I  'honor  them  that  fear  the  Lord,' 
(Psalm  15  :  4,)  and  walking  with  such  wise  and 
holy  men,  may  I  find  I  am  daily  advancing  in  wis- 
dom and  holiness  !  Prov.  13  :  20.  Quicken  me,  O 
Lord!  by  their  means;  that  by  me  thou  mayest  also 
quicken  others  !  Make  me  the  happy  instrument  of 
enkindling  and  animating  the  flame  of  divine  love 


308  PRAYER    AGAINST    TEMPTATION. 

in  their  breasts ;  and  may  it  catch  from  heart  to 
heart,  and  grow  every  moment  in  its  progress ! 

"  Guard  me,  O  Lord  !  from  the  lore  of  sensual 
pleasure  !  May  I  seriously  remember,  that '  to  be  car- 
nally-minded is  death  !'  Rom.  8  :  6.  May  it  please 
thee,  therefore,  to  purify  and  refine  my  soul  by  the  in- 
fluence of  thine  Holy  Spirit,  that  I  may  always  shun 
unlawful  gratifications  more  solicitously  than  others 
pursue  them  ;  and  that  those  indulgences  of  animal 
nature  which  thou  hast  allowed,  and  which  the  con- 
stitution of  things  renders  necessary,  may  be  soberly 
and  moderately  used  !  May  I  still  remember  the 
superior  dignity  of  my  spiritual  and  intelligent  na- 
ture, and  may  the  pleasures  of  the  man  and  the 
Christian  be  sought  as  my  noblest  happiness  !  May 
my  soul  rise  on  the  wings  of  holy  contemplation  to 
the  regions  of  invisible  glory ;  and  may  I  be  en- 
deavoring to  form  myself,  under  the  influences  of 
divine  grace,  for  the  entertainments  of  those  angelic 
spirits  that  live  in  thy  presence  in  a  happy  incapa- 
city of  those  gross  delights  by  which  spirits  dwell- 
ing in  flesh  are  so  often  ensnared,  and  in  which 
they  so  often  lose  the  memory  of  their  high  original, 
and  of  those  noble  hopes  which  alone  are  propor- 
tionable to  it ! 

"Give  me,  0  Lord  !  to  know  the  station  in  which 
thou  hast  fixed  me,  and  steadily  to  pursue  the  duties 
of  it!  But  deliver  me  from  those  excessive  cares  of 
this  world,  which  would  so  engross  my  time  and 


PRAYER    AGAINST    TEMPTATION.  309 

my  thoughts,  that  4  the  one  thing  needful '  should  be 
forgotten  !  May  my  desires  after  worldly  possessions 
be  moderated,  by  considering  their  uncertain  and 
unsatisfying  nature ;  and,  while  others  are  laying 
up  treasures  on  earth,  may  I  be  '  rich  towards  God  !' 
Luke,  12  :  21.  May  I  never  be  too  busy  to  attend 
to  those  great  affairs  which  lie  between  thee  and 
my  soul ;  never  be  so  engrossed  with  the  concerns 
of  time,  as  to  neglect  the  interests  of  eternity  !  May 
I  pass  through  earth  with  my  heart  and  hopes 
set  upon  heaven,  and  feel  the  attractive  influence 
stronger  and  stronger  as  I  approach  still  nearer  and 
nearer  to  that  desirable  centre ;  till  the  happy  mo- 
ment come,  when  every  earthly  object  shall  dis- 
appear from  my  view,  and  the  shining  glories  of 
the  heavenly  world  shall  fill  my  improved  and 
strengthened  sight,  which  shall  then  be  cheered 
with  that  which  would  now  overwhelm  me !  Amen." 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


THE   CASE   OP   SPIRITUAL   DECAY    AND   LANGUOR   IN    REUGIOM 

1.  Declensions  in  religion,  and  relapses  into  sin,  with  their 
sorrowful  consequences,  are  in  the  general  loo  probable. — 2. 
The  case  of  declension  and  langour  in  religion  described, 
negatively.— 3.  And  positively.— 4.  As  discovering  itself— 
by  a  failure  in  the  duties  of  the  closet.— 5.  By  a  neglect  of 
social  worship. — 6.  By  want  of  love  to  our  fellow  Christians. 
— 7.  By  an  undue  attachment  to  sensual  pleasures  or  secular 
cares. — 8.  By  prejudices  against  some  important  principles 
in  religion.— 9,  10.  A  symptom  peculiarly  sad  and  dange- 
rous,— 11.  Directions  for  recovery. — 12.  Immediately  to  be 
pursued.    A  prayer  for  one  under  spiritual  decays. 

1.  If  I  am  so  happy  as  to  prevail  upon  you  in  the 
exhortations  and  cautions  I  have  given,  you  will 
probably  go  on  with  pleasure  and  comfort  in  reli- 
gion, and  your  path  will  generally  be  "like  the 
morning  light,  which  shineth  more  and  more  until 
the  perfect  day."  Pro  v.  4:18.  Yet  I  dare  not  flatter 
myself  with  an  expectation  of  such  success  as  shall 
carry  you  above  those  varieties  of  temper,  conduct, 
and  state,  which  have  been  more  or  less  the  com- 
plaint of  the  best  of  men.  Much  do  I  fear,  that,  how 
warmly  soever  your  heart  may  now  be  impressed 
with  the  representation  I  have  been  making,  though 
the  great  objects  of  your  faith  and  hope  continue 


DECLENSION    IN    RELIGION.  311 

unchangeable,  your  temper  towards  them  will  be 
changed.  Much  do  I  fear  that  you  will  feel  your 
mind  languish  and  tire  in  the  good  ways  of  God ; 
nay,  that  you  may  be  prevailed  upon  to  take  some 
step  out  of  them,  and  may  thus  fall  a  prey  to  some  of 
those  temptations  which  you  now  look  upon  with  a 
holy  scorn.  The  probable  consequence  of  this  will 
be,  that  God  will  hide  his  face  from  you ;  that  he 
will  stretch  forth  his  afflicting  hand  against  you, 
and  that  you  still  will  see  your  sorrowful  moments, 
how  cheerfully  soever  you  now  "be  rejoicing  in  the 
Lord,  and  joying  in  the  God  of  your  salvation." 
Hab.  3:  18.  I  hope,  therefore,  it  may  be  of  some 
service,  if  this  too  probable  event  should  happen, 
to  consider  these  cases  a  little  more  particularly; 
and  I  heartily  pray,  that  God  would  make  what  I 
shall  say  concerning  them  the  means  of  restoring, 
comforting,  and  strengthening  your  soul,  if  he  ever 
suffers  you  in  any  degree  to  deviate  from  him. 

2.  We  will  first  consider  the  case  of  Spiritual 
Declensions  and  Languor  in  religion.  And  here  I 
desire,  that,  before  I  proceed  any  farther,  you  would 
observe  that  I  do  not  comprehend  under  this  head 
every  abatement  of  that  fervor  which  a  young  con- 
vert may  find  when  he  first  becomes  experimentally 
acquainted  with  divine  things.  Our  natures  are  so 
framed,  that  the  novelty  of  objects  strikes  them  in 
something  of  a  peculiar  manner :  not  to  urge  how 
much  more  easily  our  passions  are  impressed  in 


312  DECLENSION    IN    RELIGION. 

the  earlier  years  of  life,  than  when  we  are  more  ad- 
vanced in  the  journey  of  it.  This,  perhaps,  is  not 
sufficiently  considered.  Too  great  a  stress  is  com- 
monly laid  on  the  flow  of  affections ;  and  for  want 
of  this,  a  Christian,  who  is  ripened  in  grace,  and 
greatly  advanced  in  his  preparation  for  glory,  may 
sometimes  be  led  to  lament  imaginary  rather  than 
real  decays,  and  to  say,  without  any  just  foundation, 
r  O  that  it  were  with  me  as  in  months  past !"  Job, 
29  :  2.  Therefore,  you  can  hardly  be  too  frequently 
told,  that  religion  consists  chiefly  "  in  the  '  resolu- 
tion of  the  will  for  God,'  and  in  a  constant  care  to 
avoid  whatever  we  are  persuaded  he  would  disap- 
prove, to  despatch  the  work  he  has  assigned  us  in 
life,  and  to  promote  his  glory  in  the  happiness  of 
mankind."  To  this  we  are  chiefly  to  attend,  looking 
in  all  to  the  simplicity  and  purity  of  those  motives 
from  which  we  act,  which  we  know  are  chiefly  re- 
garded by  that  God  who  searches  the  heart ;  hum- 
bling ourselves  before  him  at  the  same  time  under  a 
sense  of  our  many  imperfections,  and  flying  to  the 
blood  of  Christ  and  the  grace  of  the  Gospel. 

3.  Having  given  this  precaution,  I  will  now  a  i 
little  more  particularly  describe  the  case,  which  I 
call  the  state  of  a  Christian  who  is  declining  in  re- 
ligion ;  so  far  as  it  does  not  fall  in  with  those  which 
I  shall  consider  in  the  following  chapters.  And  I 
must  observe  that  it  chiefly  consists  "  in  a  forget- 
fulness  of  divine  objects,  and  a  remissness  in  those 


DECLENSION    IN    RELIGION.  313' 

various  duties  to  which  we  stand  engaged  by  that 
solemn  surrender  which  we  have  made  of  ourselves 
to  the  service  of  God."  There  will  be  a  variety  of 
symptoms,  according  to  the  different  circumstances 
and  relations  in  which  the  Christian  is  placed  ;  but 
some  will  be  of  a  more  universal  kind.  It  will  be 
peculiarly  proper  to  touch  on  these ;  and  so  much 
the  rather,  as  these  declensions  are  often  unobserved, 
like  the  gray  hairs  which  were  upon  Ephraim, 
when  he  knew  it  not.   Hosea,  7  :  9. 

4.  Should  you,  my  reader,  fall  into  this  state,  it 
will  probably  iirst  discover  itself  by  a  failure  in  the 
duties  of  the  closet.  Not  that  I  suppose  they  will  at 
first,  or  certainly  conclude  that  they  will  at  all,  be 
wholly  omitted,  but  they  will  be  run  over  in  a  cold 
and  formal  manner.  Sloth,  or  some  of  those  other 
snares  which  I  cautioned  you  against  in  the  former 
chapter,  will  so  far  prevail  upon  you,  that  though 
perhaps  you  know  and  recollect  that  the  proper  sea- 
son of  retirement  is  come,  you  will  sometimes  in- 
dulge yourself  upon  your  bed  in  the  morning,  some- 
times in  conversation  or  business  in  the  evening,  so 
as  not  to  have  convenient  time  for  it.  Or  perhaps, 
when  you  come  into  your  closet  at  that  season,  some 
favorite  book  you  are  desirous  to  read,  some  corres- 
pondence that  you  choose  to  carry  on,  or  some  other 
amusement,  will  present  itself,  and  plead  to  be  des- 
patched first.  This  will  probably  take  up  more  time 
than  you  imagined ;  and  then  secret  prayer  will  be 
27 


314  DECLENSION    IN    RELIGION. 

hurried  over,  and  perhaps  reading  the  Scriptures 
quite  neglected.  You  will  plead,  perhaps,  that  it  is 
but  for  once:  but  the  same  allowance  will  be  made 
a  second  and  a  third  time;  and  it  will  grow  more 
easy  and  familiar  to  you  each  time  than  it  was  the 
last.  And  thus  God  will  be  mocked,  and  your  own 
soul  will  be  defrauded  of  its  spiritual  meals,  if  I  may 
be  allowed  the  expression;  the  word  of  God  will  be 
slighted,  and  self-examination  quite  disused;  and 
secret  prayer  itself  will  grow  a  burden  rather  than  a 
delight;  a  trifling  ceremony,  rather  than  a  devout 
hom°age,  fit  for  the  acceptance  of  "  our  Father  who 
is  in  heaven." 

5.  If  immediate  and  resolute  measures  be  not  taken 
for  your  recovery  from  these  declensions,  they  will 
spread  farther,  and  reach  the  acts  of  social  worship. 
You  will  feel  the  effects  in  your  family  and  in  pub- 
lic ordinances.  And  if  you  do  not  feel  them,  the 
symptoms  will  be  so  much  the  worse.  Wandering 
thoughts  will,  as  it  were,  eat  out  the  very  heart  of 
these  duties.  It  is  not,  I  believe,  the  privilege  of  the 
most  eminent  Christians  to  be  entirely  free  from 
them;  but  probably  in  these  circumstances  you  will 
find  but  few  intervals  of  strict  attention,  or  of  any 
thing  which  wears  the  appearance  of  inward  devo- 
tion.0 And  when  these  heartless  duties  are  concluded, 
there  will  scarce  be  a  reflection  made,  how  little  God 
hath  been  enjoyed  in  them,  how  little  he  hath  been 
honored  by  them.    Perhaps  the  sacrament  of  the 


DECLENSION    IN    RELIGION.  315 

Lord's  Supper,  being  so  admirably  adapted  to  fix  the 
attention  of  the  soul,  and  to  excite  its  warmest  exer- 
cise of  holy  affections,  may  be  the  last  ordinance  in 
which  these  declensions  will  be  felt.  And  yet,  who 
can  say  that  the  sacred  table  is  a  privileged  place  ? 
Having  been  unnecessarily  straitened  in  your  pre- 
parations, you  will  attend  with  less  fixedness  and  en- 
largement of  heart  than  usual.  And  perhaps  a  dis- 
satisfaction in  the  review,  when  there  has  been  a  re- 
markable alienation  or  insensibility  of  mind,  may 
occasion  a  disposition  to  forsake  your  place  and  your 
duty  there.  And  when  your  spiritual  enemies  have 
once  gained  this  point  upon  you,  it  is  probable  you 
will  fall  by  swifter  degrees  than  ever,  and  your 
resistance  to  their  attempts  will  grow  weaker  and 
weaker. 

6.  When  your  love  to  God  our  Father  and  to  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  fails,  your  fervor  of  Christian  af- 
fection to  your  brethren  in  Christ  will  proportion- 
ably  decline,  and  your  concern  for  usefulness  in  life 
abate,  especially  where  any  thing  is  to  be  done  for 
spiritual  edification.  You  will  find  some  one  excuse 
or  another  for  the  neglect  of  religious  discourse, 
perhaps  not  only  among  neighbors  and  Christian 
friends,  when  very  convenient  opportunities  offer ; 
but  even  with  regard  to  those  who  are  members  of 
your  own  families,  and  to  those  who,  if  you  are  fixed 
in  the  superior  relations  of  life,  are  committed  to 
your  care. 


316  DECLENSION    IN    RELIGION. 

7.  With  this  remissness,  an  attachment  either  to 
sensual  pleasures  or  to  worldly  business  will  increase. 
For  the  soul  must  have  something  to  employ  it,  and 
something  to  delight  itself  in;  and  as  it  turns  to  the 
one  or  the  other  of  these,  temptations  of  one  sort  or 
another  will  present  themselves.  In  some  instances, 
perhaps  the  strictest  bonds  of  temperance,  and  the 
regular  appointments  of  life,  may  be  broken  in  upon, 
through  a  fondness  for  company,  and  the  entertain- 
ments which  often  attend  it.  In  other  instances,  the 
interests  of  life  appearing  greater  than  they  did  be- 
fore, and  taking  up  more  of  the  mind,  contrary  in- 
terests of  other  persons  may  throw  you  into  disquie- 
tude, or  plunge  you  in  debate  and  contention,  in  which 
it  is  extremely  difficult  to  preserve  either  the  sereni- 
ty or  the  innocence  of  the  soul.  And  perhaps,  if  mi- 
nisters and  other  Christian  friends  observe  this,  and 
endeavor  in  a  plain  and  faithful  way  to  reduce  you 
from  your  wandering,  a  false  delicacy  of  mind,  often 
contracted  in  such  a  state  as  this,  will  render  these 
attempts  extremely  disagreeable.  The  ulcer  of  the 
soul,  if  I  may  be  allowed  the  expression,  will  not 
bear  being  touched  when  it  most  needs  it;  and  one 
of  the  most  generous  and  self-denying  instances  of 
Christian  friendship  shall  be  turned  into  an  occasion 
of  coldness  and  distaste,  yea,  perhaps  of  enmity. 

8.  And  possibly,  to  sum  up  all,  this  disordered 
state  of  mind  may  lead  you  into  some  prejudices 
against  those  very  principles  which  might  be  most 


DECLENSION    IN    RELIGION.  317 

effectual  for  your  recovery ;  and  your  great  enemy 
may  succeed  so  far  in  his  attempts  against  you,  as 
to  persuade  you  that  you  have  lost  nothing  in  reli- 
gion, when  you  have  almost  lost  all.  He  may  very 
probably  lead  you  to  conclude  that  your  former  de 
votional  frames  were  mere  fits  of  enthusiasm,  and 
that  the  holy  regularity  of  your  walk  before  God  was 
an  unnecessary  strictness  and  scrupulosity.  Nay,  you 
may  think  it  a  great  improvement  in  understanding, 
that  you  have  learnt  from  some  new  masters,  that,  if 
a  man  treat  his  fellow  creatures  with  humanity  and 
good  nature,  judging  and  reviling  only  those  who 
would  disturb  others  by  the  narrowness  of  their  no- 
tions, (for  these  are  generally  exempted  from  other 
objects  of  the  most  universal  and  disinterested  bene- 
volence so  often  boasted  of.)  he  must  necessarily  be 
in  a  very  good  state,  though  he  pretend  not  to  con- 
verse much  with  God,  provided  that  he  think  re- 
spectfully of  him,  and  do  not  provoke  him  by  any 
gross  immoralities. 

9.  I  mention  this  in  the  last  stage  of  religious  de- 
clension, because  I  apprehend  that  to  be  its  proper 
place;  and  I  fear  it  will  be  found,  by  experience,  to 
stand  upon  the  very  confines  of  that  gross  aposfacy 
into  deliberate  and  presumptuous  sin,  which  wjll 
claim  our  consideration  under  the  next  head.  And 
because,  too,  it  is  that  symptom  which  most  effec- 
tually tends  to  prevent  the  success,  and  even  the  use, 
of  any  proper  remedies,  in  consequence  of  a  fond 
27* 


318  DECLENSION    IN    RELIGION. 

and  fatal  apprehension  that  they  are  needless.  It  is, 
if  I  may  borrow  the  simile,  like  those  fits  of  lethar- 
gic drowsiness  which  often  precede  apoplexies  and 
death. 

10.  It  is  by  no  means  my  design  at  this  time  to 
reckon  up,  much  less  to  consider  at  large,  those  dan- 
gerous principles  which  are  now  ready  to  possess 
the  mind,  and  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  false  and 
treacherous  peace.  Indeed  they  are  in  different  in- 
stances various,  and  sometimes  run  into  opposite  ex- 
tremes. But  if  God  awaken  you  to  read  your  Bible 
with  attention,  and  give  you  to  feel  the  spirit  with 
which  it  is  written,  almost  every  page  will  flash  con- 
viction upon  the  mind,  and  spread  a  light  to  scatter 
and  disperse  these  shades  of  darkness. 

11.  What  I  chiefly  intend  in  this  address,  is  to 
engage  you,  if  possible,  as  soon  as  you  perceive  the 
first  symptoms  of  these  declensions,  to  be  upon  your 
guard,  and  to  endeavor,  as  speedily  as  possible,  to 
recover  yourself  from  them.  And  I  would  remind 
you,  that  the  remedy  must  begin  where  the  first  cause 
or  complaint  prevailed,  I  mean,  in  the  closet.  Take 
some  time  for  recollection,  and  ask  your  own  con- 
science, seriously,  how  matters  stand  between  the 
blessed  God  and  your  soul?  Whether  they  are  as 
they  once  were,  and  as  you  could  wish  them  to  be, 
if  you  saw  your  life  just  drawing  to  a  period,  and 
were  to  pass  immediately  into  the  eternal  state  ?  One 
serious  thought  of  eternity  shames  a  thousand  vain 


DECLENSION    IN    RELIGION.  319 

excuses,  with  which,  in  the  forgetfulness  of  it,  we  are 
ready  to  delude  our  own  souls.  And  when  you  feel 
that  secret  misgiving  of  heart  which  will  naturally 
arise  on  this  occasion,  do  not  endeavor  to  palliate  the 
matter,  and  to  find  out  slight  and  artful  coverings 
for  what  you  cannot  forbear  secretly  condemning, 
but  honestly  fall  under  the  conviction,  and  be  hum- 
bled for  it.  Pour  out  your  heart  before  God,  and 
seek  the  renewed  influences  of  his  Spirit  and  grace. 
Return  with  more  exactness  to  secret  devotion,  and 
to  self-examination.  Read  the  Scripture  with  yet 
greater  diligence,  and  especially  the  more  devotional 
and  spiritual  parts  of  it.  Labor  to  ground  it  in  your 
heart,  and  to  feel  what  you  have  reason  to  believe 
the  sacred  penmen  felt  when  they  wrote,  so  far  as 
circumstances  may  agree.  Open  your  soul,  with  all 
simplicity,  to  every  lesson  which  the  word  of  God 
would  teach  you ;  and  guard  against  those  things 
which  you  perceive  to  alienate  your  mind  from  in- 
ward religion,  though  there  be  nothing  criminal  in 
the  things  them^elv^s.  They  may  perhaps  in  the 
general  be  lawful ;  to  some  possibly  they  may  be  ex- 
pedient j  but  if  they  produce  such  an  effect  as  was 
mentioned  above,  it  is  certain  they  are  not  conve- 
nient for  you.  In  these  circumstances,  above  all,  seek 
the  converse  of  those  Christians  whose  progress  in 
religion  seems  most  remarkable,  and  who  adorn  their 
profession  in  the  most  amiable  manner.  Labor  to 
J  obtain  their  temper  and  sentiments,  and  lay  open 


320  DECLENSION    IN    RELIGION. 

your  case  and  your  heart  to  them,  with  all  the  free- 
dom which  prudence  will  permit.  Employ  yourself, 
at  seasons  of  leisure,  in  reading  practical  and  devo- 
tional books,  in  which  the  mind  and  heart  of  the 
pious  author  is  transfused  into  the  work,  and  in 
which  you  can,  as  it  were,  taste  the  genuine  spirit 
of  Christianity.  And  to  conclude,  take  the  first  op- 
portunity that  presents,  of  making  an  approach  to 
the  table  of  the  Lord,  and  spare  neither  time  nor 
pains  in  the  most  serious  preparation  for  it.  There 
renew  your  covenant  with  God  ;  put  your  soul  anew 
into  the  hands  of  Christ,  and  endeavor  to  view  the 
wonders  of  his  dying  love,  in  such  a  manner  as  may 
rekindle  the  languishing  flame,  and  quicken  you  to 
more  vigorous  resolution  than  ever,  "to  live  unto 
him  who  died  for  you."  2  Cor.  5:15.  And  watch 
over  your  own  heart,  that  the  good  impressions  you 
then  felt  may  continue.  Rest  not,  till  you  have  ob- 
tained as  confirmed  a  state  of  religion  as  you  ever 
knew.  Rest  not,  till  you  have  made  a  greater  pro- 
gress than  before ;  for  it  is  only  by  a  zeal  to  go  for- 
ward, that  you  can  be  secure  from  the  danger  of 
going  backward,  and  revolting  more  and  more. 

12,  I  only  add,  that  it  is  necessary  to  take  these 
precautions  as  soon  as  possible,  or  you  will  probably 
find  a  much  swifter  progress  than  you  are  aware  in 
the  downhill  road  ;  and  you  may  possibly  be  left  of 
God,  to  fall  into  some  gross  and  aggravated  sin,  so 
as  to  fill  your  conscience  with  an  agony  and  horror 


PRAYER    UNDER    DECLENSION.  321 

which  the  pain  of  "broken  bones"  (Psalm  51  :  8) 
can  but  imperfectly  express. 

A  Prayer  for  one  under  Spiritual  Decays. 

"Eternal  and  unchangeable  Jehovah!  thy  per 
fections  and  glories  are,  like  thy  being,  immutable. 
Jesus  thy  Son  is  '  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and 
for  ever.5  Heb.  13:8.  The  eternal  world,  to  which 
I  am  hastening,  is  always  equally  important,  and 
presses  upon  the  attentive  mind  for  a  more  fixed  and 
solemn  regard,  in  proportion  to  the  degree  in  which 
.it  comes  nearer  and  nearer.  But,  alas  !  my  views, 
and  my  affections,  and  my  best  resolutions,  are  con- 
tinually varying,  like  this  poor  body,  which  goes 
through  daily  and  hourly  alterations  in  its  state  and 
circumstances.  Whence,  O  Lord  !  whence  this  sad 
change  which  I  now  experience  in  the  frame  and 
temper  of  my  mind  toward  thee?  Whence  this 
alienation  of  my  soul  from  thee  ?  Why  can  I  not 
come  to  thee  with  all  the  endearments  of  filial  love, 
as  I  once  could  ?  Why  is  thy  service  so  remissly  at- 
tended, if  attended  at  all  ?  And  why  are  the  exercises 
of  it,  which  were  once  my  greatest  pleasure,  become 
a  burden  to  me?  Where,  O  God !  is  the  blessedness 
I  once  spake  of,  (Gal.  4  :  15,)  when  my  joy  in  thee 
as  my  Heavenly  Father  was  so  conspicuous  that 
strangers  might  have  observed  it,  and  when  my  heart 
did  so  overflow  with  love  to  thee,  and  with  zeal  for 


322       PRAYER  UNDER  DECLENSION. 

thy  service,  that  it  was  matter  of  self-denial  to  me, 
to  limit  and  restrain  the  genuine  expressions  of 
those  strong  emotions  of  my  soul,  even  where  pru- 
dence and  duty  required  it  ? 

"Alas,  Lord !  whither  am  I  fallen  ?  Thine  eye 
sees  me  still ;  but,  oh  !  how  unlike  what  it  once  saw 
me !  Cold  and  insensible  as  I  am,  I  must  blush  on 
the  reflection.  Thou  '  seest  me  in  secret,'  (Matt.  6  : 
6,)  and  seest  me,  perhaps,  often  amusing  myselt 
with  trifles,  in  those  seasons  which  I  used  selemnly 
to  devote  to  thine  immediate  service.  Thou  seest 
me  coming  into  thy  presence  as  by  constraint ;  and 
when  I  am  before  thee,  so  straitened  in  my  spirit, 
that  I  hardly  know  what  to  say  to  thee,  though  thou 
art  the  God  with  whom  I  have  to  do  ;  and  though 
the  keeping  up  a  humble  and  dutiful  correspondence 
with  thee  is,  beyond  all  comparison,  the  most  impor- 
tant business  of  my  life.  And  even  when  I  am 
speaking  to  thee,  with  how  much  coldness  and  for- 
mality is  it !  It  is  perhaps  the  work  of  imagination, 
the  labor  of  the  lips ;  but  where  are  those  ardent 
desires,  those  intense  breathings  after  God,  which  I 
once  felt?  Where  is  that  pleasing  repose  in  thee, 
which  I  was  once  conscious  of,  as  being  near  my 
divine  rest,  as  being  happy  in  that  nearness,  and  re- 
solving that,  if  possible,  I  would  no  more  be  remov 
ed  from  it  ?  But,  oh  !  how  far  am  I  now  removed  ? 
When  these  short  devotions,  if  they  may  be  called 
devotions,  are  over,  in  what  long  intervals  do  I  for- 


PRAYER  UNDER  DECLENSION.       323 

get  thee,  and  appear  so  little  animated  with  thy  love, 
so  little  devoted  to  thy  service,  that  a  stranger  might 
converse  with  me  a  considerable  time,  without  know- 
ing that  I  had  ever  formed  any  acquaintance  with 
thee,  without  discovering  that  I  had  so  much  as 
known  or  heard  any  thing  of  God  ?  Thou  callest  me 
to  thine  house,  O  Lord  !  on  thine  own  day:  but  how 
heartless  are  my  services  there  !  I  present  thee  no 
more  than  my  body:  my  thoughts  and  affections 
are  engrossed  with  other  objects,  while  I  'draw  near 
thee  with  my  mouth,  and  honor  thee  with  my  lips.' 
Isaiah,  29  :  13.  Thou  callest  me  to  thy  table;  but 
my  heart  is  so  frozen,  that  it  hardly  melts  even  at 
the  foot  of  the  cross,  hardly  feels  any  efficacy  in  the 
blood  of  Jesus.  O  wretched  creature  that  I  am ! 
Unworthy  of  being  called  thine  !  Unworthy  of  a 
place  among  thy  children,  or  of  the  meanest  situa- 
|  tion  in  thy  family:  rather  worthy  to  be  cast  out,  to 
'<  be  forsaken,  yea,  to  be  utterly  destroyed  ! 

"  Is  this,  Lord,  the  service  which  I  once  promised, 
and  which  thou  hast  so  many  thousand  reasons  to 
expect?  Are  these  the  returns  I  am  making  for  thy 
daily  providential  care,  for  the  sacrifice  of  thy  Son, 
for  the  communications  of  thy  Spirit,  for  the  pardon 
of  my  numberless  aggravated  sins,  for  the  hopes, 
the  undeserved  and  so  often  forfeited  hopes  of  eter- 
nal glory  1  Lord,  I  am  ashamed  to  stand  or  to  kneel 
before  thee.  But  pity  me,  I  beseech  thee,  and  help 
itne;  for   I   am  a  pitiable  object  indeed;  my  soul 


324       PRAYER  UNDER  DECLENSION. 

cleaveth  unto  the  dust,  and  lays  itself  as  in  the  dust 
before  thee;  but,  O  quicken  me  according  to  thy 
word!  Psalm  119:  25.  Let  me  trifle  no  longer, 
for  I  am  upon  the  brink  of  a  precipice  !  I  am  think- 
ing of  my  ways  :  O  give  me  grace  to  turn  my  feet 
unto  thy  testimonies,  to  make  haste  without  any 
farther  delay,  that  I  may  keep  thy  commandments ! 
Psalm  119:  59,  60.  Search  me,  O  Lord!  and  try 
me.  Psalm  139  :  23.  Go  to  the  first  root  of  this 
distemper,  which  spreads  itself  over  my  soul,  and 
recover  me  from  it !  Represent  sin  unto  me,  O  Lord  ! 
I  beseech  thee,  that  I  may  see  it  with  abhorrence  ! 
and  represent  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  me  in  such  a 
light,  that  I  may  look  upon  him  and  mourn,  (Zee. 
12  :  10,)  that  I  may  look  upon  him  and  love  !  May 
I  awaken  from  this  stupid  lethargy  into  which  I  am 
sinking,  and  may  Christ  give  me  more  abundant 
degrees  of  spiritual  life  and  activity  than  I  have  ever 
yet  received  !  and  may  I  be  so  quickened  and  ani- 
mated by  him,  that  I  may  more  than  recover  the 
ground  I  have  lost,  and  may  make  a  more  speedy 
and  exemplary  progress  than  in  my  best  days  I  have 
ever  yet  done !  Send  down  upon  me,  O  Lord !  in 
a  more  rich  and  abundant  effusion,  thy  good  Spirit. 
May  he  dwell  in  me  as  a  temple  which  he  has  con- 
secrated to  himself!  (1  Cor.  3  :  16,)  and  while  all 
the  service  is  directed  and  governed  by  him,  may 
holy  and  acceptable  sacrifices  be  continually  offer- 
ed !  Rom.  12  :  1.  May  the  incense  be  constant,  and 


RELAPSE    INTO    KNOWN    SIN.  325 

may  it  be  fragrant !  May  the  sacred  fire  burn  and 
blaze  perpetually!  Lev.  6  :  13.  And  may  none  of 
its  vessels  ever  be  profaned,  by  being  employed  to 
an  unholy  or  forbidden  use  !    Amen." 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


THE  SAD  CASE  OF  A  RELAPSE  INTO  KNOWN  AND  DELIBERATE 
SIN,  AFTER  SOLEMN  ACTS  OF  DEDICATION  TO  GOD  AND  SOME 
PROGRESS    MADE   IN   RELIGION. 

1.  Unthought  of  relapses  may  happen.— 2.  And  bring  the  soul 
into  a  miserable  ease. — 3.  Yet  the  case  is  not  desperate. — i. 
The  backslider  urged  immediately  to  return,  by  deep  hu- 
miliation before  God  for  so  aggravated  an  offence. — 5.  By 
renevxd  regards  to  the  divine  mercy  in  Christ.— 6.  By  an 
open  profession  of  repentance,  where  the  crime  hath  given 
public  offence. — 7.  Falls  to  be  reviewed  for  future  caution.— 
8.  The  chapter  concludes  with  a  prayer  for  the  use  of  one 
who  hath  fallen  into  gross  sins,  after  religious  resolutions 
and  engagements. 

1.  The  declensions  which  I  have  described  in  the 
foregoing  chapter,  must  be  acknowledged  worthy  of 
deep  lamentations  :  but  happy  will  you  be,  my  dear 
reader,  if  you  never  know,  by  experience,  a  circum- 
stance yet  more  melancholy  than  this.  Perhaps, 
when  you  consider  the  view  of  things  which  you 
now  have,  vou  imagine  that  no  consideration  can 
28 


S^j6  relapse  into   known  sin. 

ever  bribe  you,  in  any  single  instance,  to  act  contrail 
to  the  present  dictates  or  suggestions  of  your  con- 
science, or  of  the  Spirit  of  God  by  which  it  has  been 
enlightened  and  directed.  No:  you  think  it  would 
be  better  for  you  to  die.  And  you  think  rightly  :  but 
Peter  thought  and  said  so  too  ;  "  Though  I  should 
die  with  thee,  yet  will  I  not  deny  thee,"  (Matt.  26 : 
35,)  and  yet,  after  all.  he  fell ;  and  therefore,  "  be  not 
high-minded,  but  fear."  Rom.  II:  20.  It  is  not 
impossible  but  you  may  fall  into  that  very  sin,  of 
which  you  imagine  you  are  least  in  danger,  or  into 
that  against  which  you  have  most  solemnly  resolved 
and  of  which  you  have  already  most  bitterly  re- 
pented. You  may  relapse  into  it  again  and  again. 
But,  O  !  if  you  do,  nay,  if  you  should  deliberately 
and  presumptuously  fall  but  once,  how  deep  will  it 
pierce  your  heart !  How  dear  will  you  pay  for  all 
the  pleasure  with  which  the  temptation  has  been 
accompanied  !  How  will  this  separate  between  God 
and  you  !  What  a  desolation,  what  a  dreadful  deso- 
lation will  it  spread  over  your  soul !  It  is  grievous  to 
think  of  it.  Perhaps  in  such  a  state  you  may  feel 
more  agony  and  distress  in  your  own  conscience, 
when  you  come  seriously  to  reflect,  than  you  ever 
felt  when  you  were  first  awakened  and  reclaimed ; 
because  the  sin  will  be  attended  with  some  very  high 
aggravations,  beyond  those  of  your  unregenerate 
state.  I  well  know  the  person  that  said,  "the  ago 
hies  of  a  sinner,  in  the  first  pangs  of  his  repentance, 


RELAPSE    INTO    KNOWN    SIN.  327 

are  not  to  be  mentioned  on  the  same  day  with  those 
of  the  'backslider  in  heart,'  when  he  comes  to  be 
filled  with  his  own  way.'  "  Prov.  14  :  14. 

2.  Indeed,  it  is  enough  to  wound  one's  heart  to 
think  how  yours  will  be  wounded ;  how  all  your 
comforts,  all  your  evidences,  all  your  hopes,  will  be 
clouded ;  what  thick  darkness  will  spread  itself  on 
every  side ;  so  that  neither  sun,  nor  moon,  nor  stars 
will  appear  in  your  heaven.  Your  spiritual  conso- 
lations will  be  gone;  and  your  temporal  enjoy- 
ments will  also  be  rendered  tasteless  and  insipid. 
And  if  afflictions  be  sent,  as  they  probably  may,  in 
order  to  reclaim  you,  a  consciousness  of  guilt  will 
sharpen  and  envenom  the  dart.  Then  will  the  ene- 
my of  your  soul,  with  all  his  art  and  power,  rise  up 
against  you,  encouraged  by  your  fall,  and  laboring- 
to  trample  you  down  in  utter,  hopeless  ruin.  He 
will  persuade  you  that  you  are  already  undone  be- 
yond recovery.  He  will  suggest  that  it  signifies 
nothing  to  attempt  it  any  more ;  for  that  every  ef- 
fort, every  amendment,  every  act  of  repentance,  will 
but  make  your  case  so  much  the  worse,  and  plunge 
you  lower  and  lower  into  hell. 

3.  Thus  will  he  endeavor  by  terrors  to  keep  you 
from  that  sure  remedy  which  yet  remains.  But 
yield  not  to  him.  Your  case  will  indeed  be  sad  • 
and  if  it  be  now  your  case,  it  is  deplorably  so  ;  and 
to  rest  in  it,  would  be  still  much  worse.  Your  heart 
would  be  hardened  yet  more  and  more  ;  and  nothing 


328  RELAPSE    INTO    KNOWN    SIN. 

could  be  expected  but  sudden  and  aggravated  de 
struction.  Yet,  blessed  be  God,  it  is  not  quite  hope- 
less. Your  "  wounds  are  corrupted,  because  of  your 
foolishness,"  (Psalm  38  :  5,)  but  the  gangrene  is 
not  incurable.  "  There  is  a  balm  in  Gilead,  there 
is  a  physician  there."  Jer.  8  :  22.  Do  not  there- 
fore render  your  condition  hopeless,  by  now  saying, 
"  There  is  no  hope,"  (Jer.  2  :  25,)  and  by  drawing  a 
fatal  argument  from  a  false  supposition,  "for  going 
after  the  idols  you  have  loved."  Let  me  address  you 
in  the  language  of  God  to  his  backsliding  people, 
when  they  were  ready  to  apprehend  that  to  be  their 
case,  and  to  draw  such  a  conclusion  from  it :  "  only 
return  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord."  Jer.  3:13.  Cry 
for  renewed  grace ;  and  in  the  strength  of  it  labor  to 
return.  Cry  with  David,  under  the  like  guilt,  "  I 
have  gone  astray  like  a  lost  sheep ;  seek  thy  ser- 
vant, for  I  do  not  forget  thy  commandments ;"  (Ps. 
119  :  176,)  and  that  remembrance  of  them  is,  I  hope, 
a  token  for  good.  But  if  thou  wilt  return  at  all,  do 
it  immediately.  Take  not  one  step  more  in  that 
fatal  path,  to  which  thou  hast  turned  aside.  Think 
not  to  add  one  more  sin  to  the  account,  and  then  to 
repent ;  as  if  it  would  be  but  the  same  thing  on  the 
whole.  The  second  error  may  be  worse  than  the 
first ;  it  may  make  way  for  another  and  another,  and 
draw  on  a  terrible  train  of  consequences,  beyond  all 
you  can  now  imagine.  Make  haste,  therefore,  and 
do  not  delay.     "  Escape,  and  fly  as  for  thy  life " 


RELAPSE    INTO    KNOWN    SIN.  329 

(Gen.  19  :  17,)  before  "the  dart  strike  through  thy 
liver."  Prov.  7  :  23.  Give  not  sleep  to  thine  eyes, 
nor  slumber  to  thine  eyelids,"  (Prov.  6  :  4,)  lie  not 
down  upon  thy  bed  under  unpardoned  guilt,  lest  evil 
overtake  thee,  lest  the  sword  of  divine  justice  should 
smite  thee,  and,  whilst  thou  purposest  to  return  to- 
morrow, thou  shouldst  this  night  go  and  take  pos- 
session of  hell. 

4.  Return  immediately,  and,  permit  me  to  add, 
return  solemnly.  Some  very  pious  and  excellent 
divines  have  expressed  themselves  upon  this  head, 
in  a  manner  which  seems  liable  to  dangerous  abuse : 
when  they  urge  men  after  a  fall,  "  not  to  stay  to  sur- 
vey the  ground,  nor  consider  how  they  came  to  be 
thrown  down,  but  immediately  to  get  up  and  renew 
the  race."  In  slighter  cases  the  advice  is  good  ;  but 
when  conscience  has  suffered  such  violent  outrage, 
by  the  commission  of  known,  willful,  and  deliberate 
sin,  (a  case  which  one  would  hope  should  but  sel- 
dom happen  to  those  who  have  once  sincerely  en- 
tered on  a  religious  course,)  I  can  by  no  means 
think  that  either  reason  or  Scripture  encourages  such 
a  method.  Especially  would  it  be  improper,  if  the 
action  itself  had  been  of  so  heinous  a  nature,  that 
even  to  have  fallen  into  it  on  the  most  sudden  sur- 
prise of  temptation,  must  have  greatly  ashamed,  and 
terrified,  and  distressed  the  soul.  Such  an  affair  is 
dreadfully  solemn,  and  should  be  treated  according- 
ly. If  this  has  been  the  sad  case  with  you,  my  then 
28* 


ooU  RELAPSE    INTO    KNOWN    SIN. 

unhappy  reader,  I  would  pity  you,  and  mourn  over 
you ;  and  would  beseech  you,  as  you  value  your 
peace,  your  recovery,  the  health  and  the  very  life 
of  your  soul,  that  you  would  not  loiter  away  an  hour. 
Retire  immediately  for  serious  reflection.  Break 
through  other  engagements  and  employments,  unless 
they  be  such  as  you  cannot  in  conscience  delay  for 
a  few  hours,  which  can  seldom  happen  in  the  cir- 
cumstance I  now  suppose.  Set  yourself  to  it,  there- 
fore, as  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  hear  at  large, 
patiently  and  humbly,  what  conscience  has  to  say, 
though  it  chide  and  reproach  severely.  Yea,  ear- 
nestly pray  that  God  would  speak  to  you  by  con- 
science, and  make  you  more  thoroughly  to  know 
and  feel  "  what  an  evil  and  bitter  thing  it  is,  that 
you  have  thus  forsaken  him."  Jer.  2 :  19.  Think 
of  all  the  aggravating  circumstances  attending  your 
offence ;  and  especially  think  of  those  which  arise 
from  abused  mercy  and  goodness  ;  which  arise,  not 
only  from  your  solemn  vows  and  engagements  to 
God,  but  from  the  views  you  have  had  of  a  Redeem- 
er's love,  sealed  even  in  blood.  And  are  these  the 
returns  ?  Was  it  not  enough  that  Christ  should  have 
been  thus  injured  by  his  enemies?  Must  he  be 
"  wounded  in  the  house  of  his  friends"  too  ?  Zech. 
13:  6.  Were  "you  delivered  to  work  such  abomi- 
nations as  these  ?"  Jer.  7:  10.  Did  the  blessed  Jesus 
groan  and  die  for  you,  that  you  might  sin  with  bold- 
ness and  freedom,  that  you  might  extract,  as  it  were, 


RELAPSE    INTO    KNOWN    SIN.  331 

the  /ery  spirit  and  essence  of  sin,  and  offend  God  to 
a  height  of  ingratitude  and  baseness,  which  would 
otherwise  have  been,  in  the  nature  of  things,  impos- 
sible ?  0  think,  how  justly  God  might  "  cast  you  out 
from  his  presence  !"  How  justly  he  might  number 
you  among  the  most  signal  instances  of  his  ven- 
geance !  And  think  how  "  your  heart  would  endure, 
or  your  hands  be  strong,"  if  he  should  "  deal  thus 
with  you  !:'  Ezek.  22  :  14.  Alas  !  all  your  former 
experiences  would  enhance  your  sense  of  the  ruin 
and  misery  that  must  be  felt  in  an  eternal  banish- 
ment from  the  divine  presence  and  favor. 

5.  Indulge  such  reflections  as  these.  Stand  the 
humbling  sight  of  your  sins  in  such  a  view  as  this. 
The  more  odious  and  the  more  painful  it  appears, 
the  greater  prospect  there  will  be  of  your  benefit  by 
attending  to  it.  But  the  matter  is  not  to  rest  here. 
All  these  reflections  are  intended,  not  to  grieve,  but  to 
cure  ;  and  to  grieve  no  more  than  may  promote  the 
cure.  You  are  indeed  to  look  upon  sin  ;  but  you 
are  also,  in  such  circumstances,  if  ever,  to  look  up- 
on Christ,  to  look  upon  him  whom  you  have  now 
pierced  deeper  than  before,  and  to  mourn  for  him 
with  sincerity  and  tenderness.  Zech.  12:  10.  The 
God  whom  you  have  injured  and  affronted,  whose 
laws  you  have  broken,  and  whose  justice  you  have, 
as  it  were,  challenged  by  this  foolish,  wretched 
apostacy,  is  nevertheless  "a  most  merciful  God." 
Deut.  4:31.    You  cannot  be  so  ready  to  return  to 


332  RELAPSE    INTO    KNOWN    SIN. 

him,  as  he  is  to  receive  you.  Even  now  does  he,  as 
it  were,  solicit  a  reconciliation,  by  those  tender  im- 
pressions which  he  is  making  upon  your  heart. 
But  remember  how  he  will  be  reconciled.  It  is  in 
the  very  same  way  in  which  you  made  your  first 
approach  to  him,  in  the  name  and  for  the  sake  of 
his  dear  Son.  Come  therefore  in  an  humble  de- 
pendence upon  him.  Renew  your  application  to 
Jesus,  that  his  blood  may,  as  it  were,  be  sprinkled 
upon  your  soul,  that  your  soul  may  thereby  be  pu- 
rified, and  your  guilt  removed.  This  very  sin  of 
yours,  which  the  blessed  God  foresaw,  increased  the 
weight  of  your  Redeemer's  sufferings :  it  was  con- 
cerned in  shedding  his  blood.  Humbly  go,  and 
place  your  wounds,  as  it  were,  under  the  droppings 
of  that  precious  balm,  by  which  alone  they  can  be 
healed.  That  compassionate  Savior  will  delight  to 
restore  you,  when  you  lie  as  an  humble  suppliant  at 
his  feet,  and  will  graciously  take  part  with  you  in 
that  peace  and  pleasure  which  he  gives.  Through 
him  renew  your  covenant  with  God,  that  broken 
covenant,  the  breach  of  which  divine  justice  might 
teach  you  to  know  "  by  terrible  things  in  righteous- 
ness :"  (Psal.  65  :  5,)  but  mercy  allows  of  an  accom 
modation.  Let  the  consciousness  and  remembrance 
of  that  breach  engage  you  to  enter  into  covenant 
anew,  under  a  deeper  sense  than  ever  of  your  own 
weakness,  and  a  more  cordial  dependence  on  divine 
grace  for  your  security,  than  you  have  ever  yet  en- 


RELAPSE    INTO    KNOWN    SIN.  333 

tertained.  I  know  you  will  be  ashamed  to  present 
yourself  among  the  children  of  God  in  his  sanctuary, 
and  especially  at  his  table,  under  a  consciousness  of 
so  much  guilt ;  but  break  through  that  shame,  if 
Providence  open  you  the  way.  You  would  be 
humbled  before  your  offended  Father;  but  surely 
there  is  no  place  where  you  are  more  likely  to  be 
humbled,  than  when  you  see  yourself  in  his  house, 
and  no  ordinance  administered  there  can  lay  you 
lower  than  that  in  which  "  Christ  is  evidently  set 
forth  as  crucified  before  your  eyes."  Gal.  3:1. 
Sinners  are  the  only  persons  who  have  business 
there.  The  best  of  men  come  to  that  sacred  table  as 
sinners.  As  such  make  your  approach  to  it ;  yea, 
as  the  greatest  of  sinners,  as  one  who  needs  the  blood 
of  Jesus  as  much  as  any  creature  upon  earth. 

6.  And  let  me  remind  you  of  one  thing  more.  If 
your  fall  has  been  of  such  a  nature  as  to  give  any 
scandal  to  others,  be  not  at  all  concerned  to  save 
appearances,  and  to  moderate  those  mortifications 
which  deep  humiliation  before  them  would  occasion. 
The  depth  and  pain  of  that  mortification  is  indeed  an 
excellent  medicine,  which  God  has  in  his  wise  good- 
ness appointed  for  you  in  such  circumstances  as 
these.  In  such  a  case,  confess  your  fault  with  the 
greatest  frankness;  aggravate  it  to  the  utmost;  en- 
treat pardon  and  prayer  from  those  whom  you  have 
offended.  Then,  and  never  till  then,  will  you  be  in 
the  way  to  peace ;  not  by  palliating  a  fault,  not  by 


334  RELAPSE    INTO    KNOWN    SIN. 

making  vain  excuses,  not  by  objecting  to  the  man- 
ner in  which  others  may  have  treated  you  ;  as  if  the 
least  excess  of  rigor  in  a  faithful  admonition  were  a 
crime  equal  to  some  great  immorality  that  occa- 
sioned it.  This  can  only  proceed  from  the  madness 
of  pride  and  self-love  ;  it  is  the  sensibility  of  a  wound, 
which  is  hardened,  swelled,  and  inflamed;  and  it 
must  be  reduced,  and  cooled,  and  suppled,  before  it 
can  possibly  be  cured.  To  be  censured  and  con- 
demned by  men,  will  be  but  a  little  grievance  to  a 
soul  thoroughly  humbled  and  broken  under  a  sense 
of  having  incurred  the  condemning  sentence  of  God. 
Such  a  one  will  rather  desire  to  glorify  God,  by  sub- 
mitting to  deserved  blame;  and  will  fear  deceiving 
others  into  a  more  favorable  opinion  of  himself  than 
he  inwardly  knows  that  he  deserves.  These  are  the 
sentiments  which  God  gives  to  the  sincere  penitent 
in  such  a  case ;  and  by  this  means  he  restores  him 
to  that  credit  and  regard  among  others,  which  he 
does  not  know  how  to  seek ;  but  which,  nevertheless, 
for  the  sake  both  of  his  comfort  and  usefulness,  God 
wills  that  he  should  have,  and  which  it  is,  humanly 
speaking,  impossible  for  him  to  recover  any  other 
way.  But  there  is  something  so  honorable  in  the 
frank  acknowledgment  of  a  fault,  and  in  deep  humi- 
liation for  it,  that  all  who  see  it  must  needs  approve 
it.  They  pity  an  offender  who  is  brought  to  such  a 
disposition,  and  endeavor  to  comfort  him  with  re- 
turning expressions,  not  only  of  their  love,  but  of 
their  esteem  too. 


RELAPSE    INTO    KNOWN    SIN.  33f 

7.  Excuse  this  digression,  which  may  suit  some 
cases;  and  which  would  suit  many  more,  if  a  regu- 
lar discipline  were  to  be  exercised  in  churches ;  for, 
on  such  a  supposition,  the  Lord's  Supper  could  not 
be  approached,  after  visible  and  scandalous  falls, 
without  solemn  confession  of  the  offence,  and  decla- 
rations of  repentance.  On  the  other  hand,  there  may 
be  instances  of  sad  apostacy,  where  the  crime,  though 
highly  aggravated  before  God,  may  not  fall  under 
human  notice.  In  this  case,  remember  that  your 
business  is  with  Him  to  whose  piercing  eye  every 
thing  appears  in  its  just  light:  before  him,  there- 
fore, prostrate  your  soul,  and  seek  a  solemn  recon- 
ciliation with  him,  confirmed  by  the  memorials  of 
his  dying  Son.  And  when  this  is  done,  imagine  not, 
that,  because  you  have  received  the  tokens  of  par- 
don, the  guilt  of  your  apostacy  is  to  be  forgotten  at 
once.  Bear  it  still  in  your  memory  for  future  cau- 
tion :  lament  it  before  God,  especially  in  the  fre- 
quent returns  of  secret  devotion  ;  and  view  with  hu- 
miliation the  scars  of  those  wounds  which  your  own 
folly  occasioned,  even  when  by  divine  grace  they 
are  thoroughly  healed.  For  God  establishes  his  co- 
venant, not  to  remove  the  sense  of  every  past  abomi- 
nation, but  "  that  thou  mayest  remember  thy  ways, 
and  be  confounded,  and  never  open  thy  mouth  any 
more  because  of  thy  shame,  even  when  I  am  paci- 
fied towards  thee  for  all  that  thou  hast  done,  saith 
the  Lord."  Ezek.  16  :  63. 


336       PRAYER    FOR    ONE    FALLEN    INTO    SIN. 

8.  And  now,  upon  the  whole,  if  yon  desire  to  at- 
tain such  a  temper,  and  to  return  to  such  steps  as 
these,  then  immediately  fall  down  before  God,  and 
pour  out  your  heart  in  his  presence,  in  language 
like  this. 

A  Prayer  for  one  who  has  fallen  into  gross  Sin,  after  religious 
Resolutions  and  Engagements. 

"  0  most  Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  Lord  God  !  when  I 
seriously  reflect  on  thy  spotless  purity,  and  on  the 
strict  and  impartial  methods  of  thy  steady  adminis- 
tration, together  with  that  almighty  power  of  thine, 
which  is  able  to  carry  every  thought  of  thine  heart 
into  immediate  and  full  execution,  I  nay  justly  ap- 
pear before  thee  this  day  with  shame  and  terror,  in 
confusion  and  consternation  of  spirit.  This  day,  O 
my  God  !  this  dark,  mournful  day,  would  I  take 
occasion  to  look  back  to  that  sad  source  of  our  guilt 
and  our  misery,  the  apostacy  of  our  common  parents, 
and  say  with  thine  offending  servant  David,  '  Be- 
hold, I  was  shapen  in  iniquity,  and  in  sin  did  my 
mother  conceive  me.'  Psalm  51:5.  This  day 
would  I  lament  all  the  fatal  consequences  of  such  a 
descent,  with  regard  to  myself.  And,  oh  how  many 
have  they  been  !  The  remembrance  of  the  sins  of 
my  unconverted  state,  and  the  failings  and  infirmi- 
ties of  my  after  life,  may  justly  confound  me  !  How 
much  more  such  a  scene  as  now  lies  before  my  con- 
science, and  before  thine  all-seeing  eye  !    For  thou, 


PRAYER  FOR  ONE  FALLEN  INTO  SIN.   S37 

0  Lord  !  '  knowest  my  foolishness,  and  my  sins  are 
not  hid  from  thee.'  Psalm  69  :  5.  Thou  tellest  all 
my  wanderings  from  thy  statutes,  (Psalm  56 :  8,) 
thou  seest  and  thou  recordest  every  instance  of  my 
disobedience  to  thee,  and  of  my  rebellion  against 
thee.  Thou  seest  them  in  every  aggravated  circum- 
stance which  I  can  discern,  and  many  more  which 

1  have  never  observed  or  reflected  upon.  How  then 
shall  I  appear  in  thy  presence,  or  lift  up  my  face  to 
thee  !  Ezra,  9:6.  I  am  full  of  confusion,  (Job,  10  : 
15,)  and  feel  a  secret  regret  in  the  thought  of  apply- 
ing to  thee ;  but  '  O  Lord,  to  whom  shall  I  go  but 
unto  thee  V  John,  6 :  68.  Unto  thee,  on  whom 
depends  my  life  or  my  death  ;  unto  thee,  who  alone 
canst  take  away  the  burden  of  guilt  which  now 
presses  me  down  to  the  dust ;  who  alone  canst  re- 
store to  my  soul  that  rest  and  peace  which  I  have 
lost,  and  which  I  deserve  for  ever  to  lose  ! 

"  Behold  me,  O  Lord  God !  falling  down  at  thy 
|  feet!  Behold  me  pleading  guilty  in  thy  presence, 
and  surrendering  myself  to  that  justice  which  I  can- 
not escape !  I  have  not  one  word  to  offer  in  my  own 
vindication,  in  my  own  excuse.  Words,  far  from 
being  able  to  clear  up  my  innocence,  can  never  suf- 
ficiently describe  the  enormity  and  demerit  of  my 
sin.  Thou,  O  Lord !  and  thou  only,  knowest  to  the 
full,  how  heinous  and  how  aggravated  it  is.  Thine 
infinite  understanding  alone  can  fathom  the  infinite 
depth  of  its  malignity.  I  am,  on  many  accounts, 
29 


338        PRAYER    FOR    ONE     FALLEN    INTO    SIN. 

most  unable  to  do  it.  I  cannot  conceive  the  glory 
of  thy  sacred  Majesty,  whose  authority  I  have  des- 
pised, nor  the  number  and  variety  of  those  mercies 
which  I  have  sinned  against.  I  cannot  conceive  the 
value  of  the  blood  of  thy  dear  Son,  which  I  have 
ungratefully  trampled  under  my  feet :  nor  the  dig- 
nity of  that  blessed  Spirit  of  thine,  whose  agency  I 
have,  as  far  as  I  could,  been  endeavoring  to  oppose, 
and  whose  work  I  have  been,  as  with  all  my  might, 
laboring  to  undo ;  and  to  tear  up,  as  it  were,  that 
plantation  of  his  grace  which  I  should  rather  have 
been  willing  to  have  guarded  with  my  life,  and 
watered  with  my  blood.  O  the  baseness  and  mad- 
ness of  my  conduct !  That  I  should  thus,  as  it  were, 
rend  open  the  wounds  of  my  soul,  of  which  I  had 
died  long  ere  this,  had  not  thine  own  hand  applied 
a  remedy,  had  not  thine  only  Son  bled  to  prepare  it ! 
that  I  should  violate  the  covenant  I  had  made  with 
thee  by  sacrifice,  (Psalm  50:  5,)  by  the  memorials 
of  such  a  sacrifice  too,  even  of  Jesus,  my  Lord, 
whereby  I  am  become  guilty  of  his  body  and 
blood.  1  Cor.  1 1  :  27.  That  I  should  bring  such 
dishonor  upon  religion  too,  by  so  unsuitable  a  walk, 
and  perhaps  open  the  mouths  of  its  greatest  enemies 
to  insult  it  upon  my  account,  and  prejudice  some 
against  it  to  their  everlasting  destruction  ! 

"  I  wonder,  0  Lord  God  !  that  I  am  here  to  own 
all  this.  I  wonder  that  thou  hast  not  long  ago  ap- 
peared as  a  swift  witness  against  me,  (Mai.  3 :  5,) 


PRAYER    FOR    ONE    FALLEN    INTO    SIN.       33C 

that  thou  hast  not  discharged  the  thunderbolts  of 
thy  flaming  wrath  against  me,  and  crushed  me  into 
hell ;  making  me  there  a  terror  to  all  about  me,  as 
well  as  to  myself,  by  a  vengeance  and  ruin,  to  be 
distinguished  even  there,  where  all  are  miserable, 
and  all  hopeless. 

"  O  God !  thy  patience  is  marvellous !  But  how 
much  more  marvellous  is  thy  grace,  which,  after 
all  this,  invites  me  to  thee !  While  I  am  here  giving 
judgment  against  myself,  that  I  deserve  to  die,  to  die 
for  ever,  thou  art  sending  me  the  words  of  everlast- 
ing life,  and  '  calling  me,  as  a  backsliding  child,  to 
return  unto  thee.'  Jer.  3  :  22.  Behold,  therefore,  0 
Lord  !  invited  by  thy  word,  and  encouraged  by  thy 
grace,  I  come  ;  and  great  as  my  transgressions  are, 
I  humbly  beseech  thee  freely  to  pardon  them;  be- 
cause I  know,  that,  though  '  my  sins  have  reached 
unto  heaven,'  (Rev.  18  :  5,)  and  are  'lifted  up  even 
unto  the  skies,'  (Jer.  51:9,)  '  thy  mercy,'  O  Lord  ! 
is  above  the  heavens.'  Psalm  1 08  :  4.  Extend  that 
mercy  to  me,  O  heavenly  Father !  and  display,  in 
this  illustrious  instance,  the  riches  of  thy  grace  and 
the  prevalency  of  thy  Son's  blood !  For  surely,  if 
such  crimson  sins  as  mine  may  be  made  '  white  as 
snow  and  as  wool,'  (Isa.  50  :  12,)  and  if  such  a  re- 
volter  as  I  am  be  brought  to  eternal  glory,  earth 
must,  so  far  as  it  is  known,  be  filled  with  wonder 
and  heaven  with  praise  ;  and  the  greatest  sinner  may 
cheerfully  apply  for  pardon,  if  I,  'the  chief  of  sin- 


340   PRAYER  FOR  ONE  FALLEN  INTO  SIN. 

ners,'  find  it.  And,  oh  !  that,  when  I  have  lain 
mourning,  and  as  it  were  bleeding  at  thy  feet,  as 
long  as  thou  thinkest  proper,  thou  wouldst  at  length 
•  heal  this  soui  of  mine '  which  has  sinned  against 
thee,  (Psalm  41  :  4,)  and  ■  give  me  beauty  for  ashes, 
the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning,  and  the  garment  of 
praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness  !'  Isa.  61 :  3.  O  that 
thou  wouldst  at  length  'restore  unto  me  the  joy  of 
thy  salvation,  and  make  me  to  hear  songs  of  glad- 
ness, that  the  bones  which  thou  hast  broken  may 
rejoice  !'  Psalm  51  :  8,  12.  Then,  when  a  sense  of 
thy  forgiving  love  is  shed  abroad  upon  my  heart, 
and  it  is  cheered  with  the  voice  of  pardon,  I  will 
proclaim  thy  grace  to  others ;  '  I  will  teach  trans- 
gressors thy  ways,  and  sinners  shall  be  converted 
unto  thee -.'"(Psalm  51  :  13,)  those  that  have  been 
backsliding  from  thee  shall  be  encouraged  to  seek 
thee,  by  my  happy  experience,  which  I  will  gladly 
proclaim  for  thy  glory,  though  it  be  to  my  own 
shame  and  confusion  of  face.  And  may  this  ■  joy  of 
the  Lord  be  my  strength  !'  (Neh.  8:10.)  so  that  in  it 
I  may  serve  thee  henceforward  with  a  vigor  and  zeal 
far  beyond  what  I  have  hitherto  known !  This  I 
would  ask  with  all  humble  submission  to  thy  will, 
for  I  presume  not  to  insist  upon  it.  If  thou  shouldst 
see  fit  to  make  me  a  warning  to  others,  by  appoint- 
ing that  I  should  walk  all  my  day?  in  darkness, 
and  at  last  die  under  a  cloud,  '  thy  will  be  done  !' 
But,  O  God  !  extend  mercy,  for  thy  Son's  sake,  to 


PRAYER    FOR    ONE    FALLEN    INTO    SIN.       341 

this  sinful  soul  at  last,  and  give  me  some  place, 
though  it  were  at  the  feet  of  all  thy  other  servants, 
in  the  regions  of  glory !  O  bring  me  at  length, 
though  it  should  be  through  the  gloomiest  valley 
that  any  one  ever  passed,  into  that  blessed  world, 
where  I  shall  depart  from  God  no  more,  where  I 
shall  wound  my  own  conscience,  and  dishonor  thy 
holy  name  no  more  I  Then  shall  my  tongue  be 
loosed,  how  long  soever  it  might  here  be  bound  un- 
der the  confusion  of  guilt ;  and  immortal  praises 
shall  be  paid  to  that  victorious  blood  which  has  re- 
deemed such  an  infamous  slave  of  sin  as  I  must  ac- 
knowledge myself  to  be,  and  brought  me,  from 
returns  into  bondage  and  repeated  pollution,  to  share 
the  dignity  and  holiness  of  those  who  are  'kings 
and  qriests  unto  God.'  Rev.  1  :  6.    Amen." 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


THE    CASE    OF    THE   CHRISTIAN   UNDER   THE   HIDINGS   OP 
god's  FACE. 

1.  The  phrase  scriptural. — 2.  It  signifies  the  withdrawing  the 
tokens  of  the  divine  favor. — 3.  chiefly  as  to  spiritual  conside- 
■rations. — 4.  This  may  become  the  cast  of  any  Christian, — 
5.  and  will  be  found  a  very  sorrowful  one. — 6.  The  follow- 
ing directions,  therefore,  are  given  to  those  who  suppose  it  to 
be  their  own :  To  inquire  whether  it  be  indeed  a  case  of  spiri- 
tual distress,  or  lohether  a  disconsolate  frame  may  not  proceed 
from  indisposition  of  body, — 7.  or  difficulties  as  to  worldly 
circumstances. — 8,  9.  If  it  be  found  to  be  indeed  such  as  the 
title  of  the  chapter  proposes,  be  advised — to  consider  it  as  a 
merciful  dispensation  of  God,  to  awaken  and  bestir  the  soul, 
and  excite  to  a  strict  examination  of  conscience,  and  refor- 
mation of  what  has  been  amiss. — 10.  To  be  humble  and  pa- 
tient while  the  trial  continues. — 11.  To  go  on  steadily  in  the 
way  of  duty. — 12.  To  renew  a  believing  application  to  the 
blood  of  Jesus.  An  humble  supplication  for  one  under  these 
mournful  exercises  of  mind,  when  they  are  found  to  proceed 
from  the  spiritual  cause  sv 


1.  There  is  a  case  which  often  occurs  in  the  Chris- 
tian life,  which  they  who  accustom  themselves  much 
to  the  exercise  of  devotion  have  been  used  to  call  the 
"  hiding-  of  God's  face."  It  is  a  phrase  borrowed  from 
the  word  of  God,  which  I  hope  may  shelter  it  from 
contempt  at  the  first  hearing.   It  will  be  my  business 


HIDINGS    OF    GOD'S    FACE.  343 

in  this  chapter  to  state  it  as  plainly  as  I  can,  and 
then  to  give  some  advice  as  to  your  own  conduct 
when  you  fall  into  it,  as  it  is  very  probable  you  may 
before  you  have  finished  your  journey  through  this 
wilderness. 

2.  The  meaning  of  it  may  partly  be  understood 
by  the  opposite  phrase  of  God's  "  causing  his  face  to 
shine  upon  a  person,  or  lifting  up  upon  him  the 
light  of  his  countenance."  This  seems  to  carry  in 
it  an  allusion  to  the  pleasant  and  delightful  appear- 
ance which  the  face  of  a  friend  has,  and  especially 
if  in  a  superior  relation  of  life,  when  he  converses 
with  those  whom  he  loves  and  delights  in.  Thus 
Job,  when  speaking  of  the  regard  paid  him  by  his 
attendants,  says,  "  If  I  smiled  upon  them,  they  be- 
lieved it  not,  and  the  light  of  my  countenance  they 
cast  not  down,"  (Job,  29  :  24,)  that  is,  they  were 
careful,  in  such  agreeable  circumstances,  to  do  no- 
thing to  displease  me,  or  (as  we  speak)  to  cloud  my 
brow.  And  David,  when  expressing  his  desire  of 
the  manifestation  of  God's  favor  to  him,  says,  "  Lord, 
lift  thou  up  the  light  of  thy  countenance  upon  me;" 
and,  as  the  effect  of  it,  declares,  "  thou  hast  put  glad- 
ness into  my  heart,  more  than  if  corn  and  wine  in- 
creased." Psalm  4:6,7.  Nor  is  it  impossible,  that, 
in  this  phrase,  as  used  by  David,  there  may  be  some 
allusion  to  the  bright  shining  forth  of  the  Shekinah, 
that  is,  the  lustre  which  dwelt  in  the  cloud  as  the 
visible  sign  of  the  divine  presence  with  Israel,  which 


344  HIDINGS    OF    GOD'S    FACE. 

God  was  pleased  peculiarly  to  manifest  upon  some 
public  occasions,  as  a  token  of  his  favor  and  accept- 
ance. On  the  other  hand,  therefore,  for  God  "  to 
hide  his  face,"  must  imply  his  withholding-  the  tokens 
of  his  favor,  and  must  be  esteemed  a  mark  of  his  dis- 
pleasure. Thus  Isaiah  uses  it,  "  Your  iniquities 
have  separated  between  you  and  your  God,  and 
your  sins  have  hid  his  face  from  you,  that  he  will 
not  hear."  Isaiah,  59  :  2.  And  again,  "  Thou  hast 
hid  thy  face  from  us,"  as  not  regarding  the  calami- 
ties we  suffer,  ''  and  hast  consumed  us  because  of 
our  iniquities."  Isaiah,  64  :  7.  So  likewise  for  God 
"  to  hide  his  face  from  our  sins,"  (Psalm  51  :  9,) 
signifies  to  overlook  them,  and  to  take  no  farther 
notice  of  them.  The  same  idea  is,  at  other  times,  ex- 
pressed by  "  God's  hiding  his  eyes,"  (Isaiah,  1  :  15,) 
from  persons  of  a  character  disagreeable  to  him, 
when  they  come  to  address  him  with  their  petitions, 
not  vouchsafing,  as  it  were,  to  look  toward  them. 
This  is  plainly  the  scriptural  sense  of  the  word ;  and 
agreeably  to  this,  it  is  generally  used  by  Christians 
in  our  day,  and  every  thing  which  seems  a  token  of 
divine  displeasure  toward  them  is  expressed  by  it. 

3.  It  is  farther  to  be  observed  here,  that  the  things 
which  they  judge  to  be  manifestations  of  divine  favor 
toward  them,  or  complacency  in  them,  are  not  only, 
nor  chiefly  of  a  temporal  nature,  or  such  as  merely 
relate  to  the  blessings  of  this  animal  and  perishing 
life.    David,  though  the  promises  of  the  law  had  a 


HIDINGS    OF    GOD'S    FACE.  345 

continual  reference  to  such,  yet  was  taught  to  look 
farther,  and  describes  them  as  preferable  to,  and 
therefore  plainly  distinct  from  ''  the  blessings  of  the 
corn-floor  or  the  wine-press."  Psalm  4  :  7.  And  if 
you  whom  1  am  now  addressing  do  not  know  them 
to  be  so,  it  is  plain  you  are  quite  ignorant  of  the  sub- 
ject we  are  inquiring  into,  and  indeed  have  yet  to 
learn  the  first  lessons  of  true  religion.  All  that  Da- 
vid says,  of  "  beholding  the  beauty  of  the  Lord," 
(Psalm  27  :  4,)  or  being  "  satisfied  as  with  marrow 
and  fatness,  when  he  remembered  him  upon  his  bed," 
(Psalm  63  :  5,  6,)  as  well  as  "  with  the  goodness  of 
his  house,  even  of  his  holy  temple,"  (Psalm  65  :  4,) 
is  to  be  taken  in  the  same  sense,  and  can  need  very 
little  explication  to  the  truly  experienced  soul.  But 
those  who  have  known  the  light  of  God's  counte- 
nance, and  the  shillings  of  his  face,  will,  in  propor- 
tion to  the  degree  of  that  knowledge,  be  able  to  form 
some  notion  of  the  hiding  of  his  face,  or  the  with- 
drawing of  the  tokens  he  has  given  his  people  of 
his  presence  and  favor,  which  sometimes  greatly 
imbitters  prosperity;  as,  where  the  contrary  is  found, 
it  sweetens  affliction,  and  often  swallows  up  the  sense 
of  it. 

4.  And  give  me  leave  to  remind  you,  my  Chris- 
tian friend,  (for  under  that  character  I  now  address 
my  reader,)  that  to  be  thus  deprived  of  the  sense  of 
God's  love,  and  of  the  tokens  of  his  favor,  may  soon 
be  the  case  with  you,  though  you  may  now  have  the 


346  HIDINGS    OF    GOD'o    FACE. 

pleasure  to  see  the  candle  of  the  Lord  shining  upon 
you,  or  though  it  may  even  seem  to  be  sunshine  and 
high  noon  in  your  soul.  You  may  lose  your  lively 
views  of  the  divine  perfections  and  glory,  in  the  con- 
templation of  which  you  now  find  that  inward  satis- 
faction. You  may  think  of  the  divine  wisdom  and 
power,  of  the  divine  mercy  and  fidelity,  as  well  as  of 
his  righteousness  and  holiness,  and  feel  little  inward 
complacency  of  soul  in  the  view  :  it  may  be,  with 
respect  to  any  lively  impressions,  as  if  it  were  the 
contemplation  merely  of  a  common  object.  It  may 
seem  to  you  as  if  you  had  lost  all  idea  of  those  im- 
portant words,  though  the  view  has  sometimes  swal- 
lowed up  your  whole  soul  in  transports  of  astonish- 
ment, admiration,  and  love.  You  may  lose  your  de- 
lightful sense  of  the  divine  favor.  It  may  be  matter 
of  great  and  sad  doubt  with  you,  whether  you  do  in- 
deed belong  to  God  ;  and  all  the  work  of  his  blessed 
Spirit  may  be  so  veiled  and  shaded  in  the  soul,  that 
the  peculiar  characters  by  which  the  hand  of  that  sa- 
cred Agent  might  be  distinguished,  shall  be  in  a  great 
measure  lost ;  and  you  may  be  ready  to  imagine  you 
have  only  deluded  yourself  in  all  the  former  hopes 
you  have  entertained.  In  consequence  of  this,  those 
ordinances  in  which  you  now  rejoice,  may  grow 
very  uncomfortable  to  you,  even  when  you  do  indeect 
desire  communion  with  God  in  them.  You  may 
hear  the  most  delightful  evangelical  truths  opened, 
you  may  hear  the  privileges  of  God's  children  most 


HIDINGS    OF    GOD'S    TACE.  347 

affectionately  represented,  and  not  be  aware  that  you 
have  any  part  or  lot  in  the  matter ;  and  from  that  very 
coldness  and  insensibility  may  be  drawing  a  farther 
argument  that  you  have  nothing  to  do  with  them. 
And  then  "  your  heart  "  may  "  meditate  terror,"  (Isa. 
33  :  18,)  and  under  the  distress  that  overwhelms 
you,  your  dearest  enjoyments  may  be  reflected  upon 
as  adding  to  the  weight  of  it,  and  making  it  more 
sensible,  while  you  consider  that  you  had  once  such 
a  taste  for  these  things,  and  have  now  lost  it  all.  So 
that  perhaps  it  may  seem  to  you,  that  they  who  never 
felt  any  thing  at  all  of  religious  impressions,  are  hap- 
pier than  you,  or  at  least  are  less  miserable.  You 
may,  perhaps,  in  these  melancholy  hours,  even  doubt 
whether  you  have  ever  prayed  at  all,  and  whether 
all  that  you  called  your  enjoyment  of  God,  was  not 
some  false  delight,  excited  by  the  great  enemy  of 
souls,  to  make  you  apprehend  that  your  state  was 
good,  that  so  you  might  continue  his  more  secure 
prey. 

5.  Such  as  this  may  be  your  case  for  a  conside- 
rable time  ;  and  ordinances  may  be  attended  in  vain, 
and  the  presence  of  God  may  be  in  vain  sought  in 
them.  You  may  pour  out  your  soul  in  private,  and 
then  come  to  public  worship,  and  find  little  satisfac- 
tion in  either,  but  be  forced  to  take  up  the  Psalmist's 
complaint,  •■  My  God,  I  cry  in  the  day-time,  but 
thou  hearest  not ;  and  in  the  night  season,  and  am 
not  silent;"  (Psalm  22:  2,)  or  that  of  Job,  "Behold, 


348  HIDINGS    OF    GOD'S    FACE. 

I  go  forward,  but  he  is  not  there ;  and  backward, 
but  I  cannot  perceive  him  :  on  the  left  hand,  where 
he  doth  work,  but  I  cannot  behold  him:  he  hideth 
himself  on  the  right  hand,  that  I  cannot  see  him." 
Job,  23 :  8,  9.  So  that  all  which  looked  like  religion 
in  your  mind,  shall  seem  as  it  were  to  be  melted 
into  grief,  or  chilled  into  fear,  or  crushed  into  a  deep 
sense  of  your  own  unworthiness  ;  in  consequence  of 
which,  you  shall  dare  not  so  much  as  lift  up  your 
eyes  before  God,  and  be  almost  ashamed  to  take 
your  place  in  a  worshipping  assembly  among  any 
that  you  think  his  servants.  I  have  known  this  to 
be  the  case  of  some  excellent  Christians,  whose  im- 
provements in  religion  have  been  distinguished,  and 
whom  God  hath  honored  above  many  of  their 
brethren  in  what  he  hath  done  for  them,  and  by 
them.  Give  me  leave,  therefore,  having  thus  de- 
scribed it,  to  offer  you  some  plain  advice  with  regard 
to  it ;  and  let  not  that  be  imputed  to  enthusiastic 
fancy  which  proceeds  from  an  intimate  and  frequent 
view  of  facts  on  the  one  hand,  and  from  a  sincere 
affectionate  desire  on  the  other,  to  relieve  the  tender, 
pious  heart,  in  so  desolate  a  state.  At  least  I  am 
persuaded  the  attempt  will  not  be  overlooked  or  dis- 
approved by  "  the  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep," 
(Heb.  13  :20,)  who  has  charged  us  to  "  comfort  the 
feeble-minded."    1  Thess.  5:14. 

6.  And  here  I  would  first  advise  you  most  care- 
fully to  inquire  whether  your  present  distress  does 


HIDINGS    OF    GOD'S    FACE.  349 

indeed  arise  from  causes  which  are  truly  spiritual, 
or  whether  it  may  not  rather  have  its  foundation  in 
some  disorder  of  the  body,  or  in  the  circumstances 
of  life  in  which  you  are  providentially  placed,  which 
may  break  your  spirits  and  deject  your  mind.  The 
influence  of  the  inferior  part  of  our  nature  on  the 
nobler,  the  immortal  spirit,  while  we  continue  in 
this  embodied,  state,  is  so  evident,  that  no  attentive 
person  can,  in  the  general,  fail  to  observe  it ;  and 
yet  there  are  cases  in  which  it  seems  not  to  be  suf- 
ficiently considered  5  and  perhaps  your  own  may  be 
one  of  them.  The  state  of  the  blood  is  often  such 
as  necessarily  to  suggest  gloomy  ideas,  even  in 
dreams,  and  to  indispose  the  soul  for  taking  plea- 
sure in  any  thing :  and  when  it  is  so,  why  should 
it  be  imagined  to  proceed  from  any  peculiar  divine 
displeasure,  if  the  soul  does  not  find  its  usual  delight 
in  religion?  Or  why  should  God  be  thought  to 
have  departed  from  us,  because  he  suffers  natural 
causes  to  produce  natural  effects,  without  interposing, 
by  miracle,  to  break  the  connection  ?  When  this  is 
the  case,  the  help  of  the  physician  is  to  be  sought, 
rather  than  that  of  the  divine ;  or  at  least,  by  all 
means,  together  with  it ;  and  medicine,  diet,  exer- 
cise and  air,  may  in  a  few  weeks  effect  what  the 
strongest  reasonings,  the  most  pathetic  exhortations 
or  consolations  might  for  many  months  have  at- 
tempted in  vain. 

7.  In  other  instances,  the  dejection  and  feebleness 
30 


350  HIDINGS    OF    GODJS    FACE. 

of  the  mind  may  arise  from  something  uncomforta- 
ble in  our  worldly  circumstances.  These  may  cloud 
as  well  as  distract  the  thoughts,  and  imbittter  the  tem- 
per, and  thus  render  us  in  a  great  degree  unfit  for 
religious  services  and  pleasures;  and  when  it  is  so. 
the  remedy  is  to  be  sought  in  submission  to  Divine 
Providence,  in  abstracting  our  affections  as  far  as 
possible  from  the  present  world,  in  a  prudent  care  to 
ease  ourselves  of  the  burden  so  far  as  we  can,  by  mo- 
derating unnecessary  expenses,  and  by  diligent  ap- 
plication to  business,  in  humble  dependence  on  the 
divine  blessing  ;  in  the  mean  time,  endeavoring,  by 
faith,  to  look  up  to  him  who  sometimes  suffers  his 
children  to  be  brought  into  such  difficulties,  that  he 
may  endear  himself  more  sensibly  to  them  by  the 
method  he  shall  take  for  their  relief. 

8.  On  the  principles  here  laid  down,  it  may  per- 
haps appear,  on  inquiry,  that  the  distress  complained 
of  may  have  a  foundation  very  different  from  what 
was  at  first  supposed.  But  where  the  health  is  sound, 
and  the  circumstances  easy  ;  when  the  animal  spirits 
are  disposed  for  gayety  and  entertainment,  while  all 
taste  for  religious  pleasure  is  in  a  manner  gone ; 
when  the  soul  is  seized  with  a  kind  of  lethargic  in- 
sensibility, or  what  I  had  almost  called  a  paralytic 
weakness  with  respect  to  every  religious  exercise, 
even  though  there  should  not  be  that  deep  terrifying 
distress,  or  pungent  amazement,  which  I  before  re- 
presented as  the  effect  of  melancholy,  not  that  anxiety 


HIDINGS    OF    GOD'S    FACE.  351 

about  the  accommodations  of  life  which  strait  cir- 
cumstances naturally  produce  ;  I  would  in  that  case 
vary  my  advice,  and  urge  you,  with  all  possible  at- 
tention and  impartiality,  to  search  into  the  cause 
which  has  brought  upon  you  that  great  evil  under 
which  you  justly  mourn.  And  probably,  in  the  gen- 
eral, the  cause  is  sin — some  secret  sin,  which  has  not 
been  discovered  or  observed  by  the  eye  of  the  world ; 
for  enormities  that  draw  on  them  the  observation  and 
censure  of  others,  will  probably  fall  under  the  case 
mentioned  in  the  former  chapter,  as  they  must  be  in- 
stances of  known  and  deliberate  guilt.  Now  the  eye 
of  God  hath  seen  these  evils  which  have  escaped  the 
notice  of  your  fellow-creatures;  and  in  consequence 
of  this  care  to  conceal  them  from  others,  while  you 
could  not  but  know  they  were  open  to  him,  God  has 
seen  himself  in  a  peculiar  manner  affronted  and  in- 
jured, I  had  almost  said  insulted  by  them  ;  and  hence 
his  righteous  displeasure.  Oh  !  let  that  never  be  for- 
gotten, which  is  so  plainly  said,  so  commonly  known, 
so  familiar  to  almost  every  religious  ear,  yet  too  lit- 
tle felt  by  any  of  our  hearts,  "  Your  iniquities  have 
separated  between  you  and  your  God,  and  your  sins 
have  hid  his  face  from  you,  that  he  will  not  hear." 
Isaiah  59  :  1,2.  And  this  is,  on  the  whole,  a  mer- 
ciful dispensation  of  jrod,  though  it  may  seem  severe: 
regard  it  not,  therefore,  merely  as  your  calamity, 
but  as  intended  to  awaken  you,  that  you  may  not 
content  yourself,  even  with  Jying  in  tears  of  humili- 


352  HIDINGS    OF    GOD'S    FACE. 

ation  before  the  Lord,  but,  like  Joshua,  rise  and  ex- 
ert yourself  vigorously,  to  "  put  away  from  you  that 
accursed  thing-,"  whatever  it  be.  Let  this  be  your 
immediate  and  earnest  care,  that  your  pride  may  be 
humbled,  that  your  watchfulness  may  be  maintained, 
that  your  affections  to  the  world  may  be  deadened, 
and  that,  on  the  whole,  your  fitness  for  heaven  may 
in  every  respect  be  increased.  These  are  the  designs 
of  your  heavenly  Father,  and  let  it  be  your  great 
concern  to  co-operate  with  them. 

ft.  Receive  it  therefore,  on  the  whole,  as  the  most 
important  advice  that  can  be  given  you,  immediately 
to  enter  on  a  strict  examination  of  your  conscience. 
Attend  to  its  gentlest  whispers.  If  a  suspicion  arises 
in  your  mind  that  any  thing  has  not  been  right,  trace 
that  suspicion,  search  into  every  secret  folding  of 
your  heart :  improve  to  the  purposes  of  a  fuller  dis- 
covery the  advice  of  your  friends,  the  reproaches  of 
your  enemies ;  recollect  for  wrhat  your  heart  hath 
smitten  you  at  the  table  of  the  Lord,  for  what  it 
would  smite  you  if  you  were  upon  a  dying  bed,  and 
within  this  hour  to  enter  on  eternity.  When  you  have 
made  any  discovery,  note  it  down;  and  go  on  in 
your  search,  till  you  can  say,  these  are  the  remain- 
ing corruptions  of  my  heart,  these  are  the  sins  and 
follies  of  my  life ;  this  have  I  neglected  ;  this  have  I 
done  amiss.  And  when  the  account  is  as  complete 
as  you  can  make  it,  set  yourself,  in  the  strength  of  a 
God,  to  a  serious  reformation ;  or  rather  begin  the 


HIDINGS    OF    GOBS    FACE. 


353 


reformation  of  every  thing  that  seems  amiss,  as  soon 
as  ever  you  discover  it;  "return  to  the  Almighty, 
and  thou  shalt  be  built  up ;  put  iniquity  far  from  thy 
tabernacle,  and  then  shalt  thou  have  thy  delight  in  the 
Almighty,  and  shalt  lift  up  thy  face  unto  God.  Thou 
shalt  make  thy  prayer  unto  him,  and  he  shall  hear 
thee;  thou  shalt  pay  thy  vows  unto  him,  and  his  light 
shall  shine  upon  thy  ways."  Job,  22 :  23,  26,  27. 

10.  In  the  mean  time,  be  waiting  for  God  with 
the  deepest  humility,  and  submit  yourself  to  the  dis- 
cipline of  your  heavenly  Father,  acknowledging  his 
justice,  and  hoping  in  his  mercy ;  even  when  your 
conscience  is  least  severe  in  its  remonstrances,  and 
discovers  nothing  more  than  the  common  infirmities 
of  God's  people ;  yet  still  bow  yourself  down  before 
him,  and  own  that  so  many  are  the  evils  of  your  best 
days,  so  many  the  imperfections  of  your  best  servi- 
ces, that  by  them  you  have  deserved  all,  and  more 
than  all  that  you  suffer:  deserved,  not  only  that 
your  sun  should  be  clouded,  but  that  it  should  go 
down,  and  arise  no  more,  but  leave  your  soul  in  a 
state  of  everlasting  darkness.  And  while  the  shade 
continues,  be  not  impatient.  Fret  not  yourself  in  any 
wise,  but  rather,  with  a  holy  calmness  and  gentle- 
ness of  soul,  "wait  on  the  Lord."  Psalm  37  :  8,  34. 
Be  willing  to  stay  his  time,  willing  to  bear  his 
frown,  in  humble  hope  that  he  will  at  length  **  return 
and  have  compassion  on  you."  Jer.  12:  15.  He  has 
not  utterly  forgotten  to  be  gracious,  nor  resolved 
30* 


354  HIDINGS    OF    GOD'S    FACE. 

that  "  he  will  be  favorable  no  more."  Psalm  77:7,9 
"For  the  Lord  will  not  cast  off  for  ever ;  but  though 
he  cause  grief,  yet  will  he  have  compassion  ac- 
cording to  the  multitude  of  his  mercies."  Lam.  3  : 
31,  32.  It  is  comparatively  but  "for  a  small  moment 
that  he  hides  his  face  from  you ;"  but  you  may  hum- 
bly hope,  that  with  great  mercies  he  will  gather  you, 
and  that  "with  everlasting  kindness  he  will  have 
mercy  on  you."  Isaiah,  54  :  7,  8.  These  suitable 
words  are  not  mine,  but  his ;  and  they  wear  this,  as 
in  the  very  front  of  them,  "  That  a  soul  under  the 
hidings  of  God's  face  may  at  last  be  one  whom  he 
will  gather,  and  to  whom  he-will  extend  everlasting 
favor." 

11.  But  while  the  darkness  continues,  "go  on  in 
the  way  of  your  duty."  Continue  the  use  of  means 
and  ordinances  :  read  and  meditate  :  pray,  yes,  and 
sing  the  praises  of  God  too,  though  it  may  be  with 
a  heavy  heart.  Follow  the  "  footsteps  of  his  flock," 
(Cant.  1  :  8,)  you  may  perhaps  meet  the  Shepherd 
of  souls  in  doing  it.  Place  yourself  at  least  in  his 
way.  It  is  possible  you  may  by  this  means  get  a 
kind  look  from  him;  and  one  look,  one  turn  of 
thought,  which  may  happen  in  a  moment,  may,  as  it 
were,  create  a  heaven  in  your  soul  at  once.  Go  to 
the  table  of  the  Lord.  If  you  cannot  rejoice,  go  and 
mourn  there.  Go  and  "mourn  for  that  Savior 
whom,"  by  your  sins,  "  you  have  pierced  :"  (Zech. 
12  :  10.)  go  and  lament  the  breaches  of  that  cove- 


HIDINGS    OF    GOD'S    FACE.  355 

nant  which  you  have  there  so  often  confirmed. 
Christ  may  perhaps  make  himself  known  unto  you 
"in  the  breaking  of  the  bread,"  (Luke,  24  :  35,)  and 
you  may  find,  to  your  surprise,  that  he  hath  been 
near  you,  when  you  imagined  he  was  at  the  great- 
est distance  from  you ;  near  you,  when  you  thought 
you  were  cast  out  from  his  presence."  Seek  your 
comfort  in  such  enjoyments  as  these,  and  not  in  the 
vain  amusements  of  this  world,  and  in  the  pleasures 
of  sense.  I  shall  never  forget  that  affectionate  ex- 
pression, which  I  am  well  assured  broke  out  from 
an  eminently  pious  heart,  then  almost  ready  to  break 
under  its  sorrows  of  this  kind:  "  Lord,  if  I  may  not 
enjoy  thee,  let  me  enjoy  nothing  else  ;  but  go  down 
mourning  after  thee  to  the  grave!"  I  wondered  not 
to  hear,  that,  almost  as  soon  as  the  sentiment  had 
been  breathed  out  before  God  in  prayer,  the  burden 
was  taken  off,  and  "  the  joy  of  God's  salvation  re- 
stored." 

12.  I  shall  add  but  one  advice  more,  and  that  is, 
that  "  you  renew  your  application  to  the  blood  of  Je- 
sus, through  whom  the  reconciliation  between  God 
and  your  soul  has  been  accomplished."  It  is  he  that 
is  our  peace,  and  by  his  blood  it  is  that  "  we  are 
made  nigh:"  (Eph.  2  :  13,  14,)  it  is  in  him,  as  the 
beloved  of  his  soul,  that  God  declares  he  is  well- 
pleased;  (Matt.  3  :  17,)  and  it  is  in  him  that  "we 
are  made  accepted,  to  the  glory  of  his  grace."  Eph. 
1  :  6.  Go,  therefore,  O  Christian,  and  apply  by  faith 


356  HIDINGS    OF    GOD'S    FACE. 

to  a  crucified  Savior:  go,  and  apply  to  him,  as  to  a 
merciful  high-priest,  "  and  pour  out  thy  complaint 
hefore  him,  and  show  before  him  thy  trouble."  Psalm 
142  :  2.  Lay  open  the  distress  and  anguish  of  thy 
soul  to  him,  who  once  knew  what  it  was  to  say, 
(0  astonishing,  that  He  should  ever  have  said  it !) 
"My  God!  my  God!  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?" 
Matt.  27  :  46.  Look  up  for  pity  and  relief  to  him, 
who  himself  suffered,  being  not  only  tempted,  but, 
with  regard  to  sensible  manifestations,  deserted,  that 
he  might  thus  know  how  to  pity  those  that  are  in 
such  a  melancholy  case,  and  be  ready,  as  well  as  able, 
"to  succor  them."  Heb.  2  :  18.  "He  is  Immanuel, 
God  with  us,"  (Matt.  1  :  23,)  and  it  is  only  in  and 
through  him  that  his  Father  shines  forth  upon  us 
with  the  mildest  beams  of  mercy  and  of  love.  Let  it 
be  therefore  your  immediate  care  to  renew  your  ac- 
quaintance with  him.  Review  the  records  of  his  life 
and  death;  and  when  you  do  so,  surely  you  will 
feel  a  secret  sweetness  diffusing  itself  over  your  soul. 
You  will  be  brought  into  a  calm,  gentle,  silent 
frame,  in  which  faith  and  love  will  operate  powerful- 
ly, and  God  may  probably  cause  '•  the  still  small 
voice"  of  his  comforting  Spirit  to  be  heard,  (1  Kings, 
19  :  12,)  till  your  soul  burst  out  into  a  song  of  praise, 
and  you  are  "  made  glad  according  to  the  days  in 
which  you  have  been  afflicted."  Psalm  90  :  15.  In 
the  mean  time,  such  language  as  the  following  sup- 
plication speaks,  may  be  suitable. 


357 


An  humble  Supplication  fot  one  wider  the  Hidings  of  God's 
Face. 

"  Blessed  God !  '  with  thee  is  the  fountain  of 
life'  and  of  happiness.  Psalm  36  :  9.  I  adore  thy 
name  that  I  have  ever  tasted  of  thy  streams ;  that 
I  have  ever  had  the  peculiar  pleasure  arising  from 
the  light  of  thy  countenance,  and  the  shedding 
abroad  of  thy  love  in  my  soul.  But  alas !  these  de- 
lightful seasons  are  now  to  me  no  more ;  and  the  re- 
membrance of  them  engages  me  to  '  pour  out  my 
soul  Avithin  me.'  Psalm  42  :  4.  I  would  come,  as  I 
have  formerly  done,  and  call  thee,  with  the  same  en- 
dearment, 'my  Father  and  my  God;'  but  alas!  I 
know  not  how  to  do  it.  Guilt  and  fears  arise,  and 
forbid  the  delightful  language.  I  seek  thee,  O  Lord  ! 
but  I  seek  in  vain.  I  would  pray,  but  my  lips  are 
sealed  up.  I  would  read  thy  word,  but  all  the  pro- 
mises of  it  are  veiled  from  mine  eyes.  I  frequent 
those  ordinances  which  have  been  formerly  most 
nourishing  and  comfortable  to  my  soul,  but,  alas  ! 
they  are  only  the  shadows  of  ordinances:  the  sub- 
stance is  gone:  the  animating  spirit  is  fled,  and 
leaves  them  now,  at  best,  but  the  image  of  what  I 
once  knew  them. 

"  But,  Lord,  hast  '  thou  cast  off  for  ever,  and  wilt 
thou  be  favorable  no  more  ?'  Psalm  17  :  7.  Hast 
thou  in  awful  judgment  determined  that  my  soul 
must  be  left  to  a  perpetual  winter,  the  sad  emblem 


358  H      INOS    OF    GOD  S    FACE. 

of  eternal  darkness  1  Indeed,  I  deserve  it  should  be 
so.  I  acknowledge,  O  Lord  !  I  deserve  to  be  cast 
away  from  thy  presence  with  disdain,  to  be  sunk 
lower  than  I  am,  much  lower :  I  deserve  to  have 
•the  shadow  of  death  upon  my  eyelids,'  (Job,  16: 
16,)  and  even  to  be  surrounded  with  the  thick  gloom 
of  the  infernal  prison.  But  hast  thou  not  raised  mul- 
titudes, who  have  4  deserved,  like  me,  to  be  delivered 
into  chains  of  darkness,'  (2  Pet.  2  :  4,)  to  the  vision 
of  thy  glory  above,  where  no  cloud  can  ever  inter- 
pose between  thee  and  their  rejoicing  spirits  ?" 
'  Have  mercy  upon  me,  0  Lord  !  have  mercy  upon 
me  !'  Psalm  123  :  3.  And  though  my  iniquities  have 
now  justly 'caused  thee  to  hide  thy  face  from  me,' 
(Isa.  59  :  2,)  yet  be  thou  rather  pleased,  agreeably 
to  the  gracious  language  of  thy  word,  '  to  hide  thy 
face  from  my  sins,  and  to  blot  out  all  my  iniquities.' 
Psalm  51:9.  Cheer  my  heart  with  the  tokens  of 
thy  returning  favor,  and  '  say  unto  my  soul,  I  am 
thy  salvation!'  Psalm  35  :  3. 

"  Remember,  O  Lord  God  !  remember  that  dread- 
ful day,  in  which  Jesus  thy  dear  Son  endured  what 
my  sins  have  deserved  !  Remember  that  agony,  in 
which  he  poured  out  his  soul  before  thee  and  said, 
4  My  God  !  My  God  !  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?' 
Matt.  27  :  46.  Did  he  not,  O  Lord  !  endure  all  this, 
that  humble  penitents  might,  through  him,  be  brought 
near  unto  thee,  and  might  behold  thee  with  pleasure, 
as  their  Father  and  their  God  ?    Thus  do  I  desire  to 


HIDINGS    OF    GODS    FACE.  359 

come  unto  thee.  Blessed  Savior,  art  thou  not  ap- 
pointed '  to  give  unto  them  that  mourn  in  Zion,  beau- 
ty for  ashes,  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning,  and  the 
garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness  V  Isa. 
61:3.  O  wash  away  my  tears,  anoint  my  head  with 
4  the  oil  of  gladness,  and  clothe  me  with  the  garments 
of  salvation.'  Isa.  61  :  10. 

"  *0  that  I  knew  where  I  might  find  thee  !'  Job, 
23  :  3.  O  that  I  knew  what  it  is  that  hath  engaged 
thee  to  depart  from  me  !  I  am  '  searching  and  try- 
ing my  ways.'  Lam.  3  :  40.  O  that  thou  wouldst 
'  search  me,  and  know  my  heart ;  try  me,  and  know 
my  thoughts ;'  and  if  '  there  be  any  wicked  way  in 
me,'  discover  it,  and  '  lead  me  in  the  way  everlasting ;' 
(Psalm  139  :  23,  24,)  in  that  way  in  which  I  may 
find  rest  and  peace  '  for  my  soul,'  (Jer.  6  :  16,)  and 
feel  the  discoveries  of  thy  love  in  Christ  ! 

"  O  God  !  '  who  didst  command  the  light  to  shine 
out  of  darkness,'  (2  Cor.  4  :  6,)  speak  but  the  word, 
and  light  shall  dart  into  my  soul  at  once !  4  Open  thou 
my  lips,  and  my  mouth  shall  show  forth  thy  praise,' 
(Psalm  51  :  15,)  shall  burst  out  into  a  cheerful  song, 
which  shall  display,  before  those  whom  my  present 
dejections  may  have  discouraged,  the  pleasures  and 
supports  of  religion, 

"  Yet,  Lord,  on  the  whole,  I  submit  to  thy  will. 
If  it  is  thus  that  my  faith  must  be  exercised,  by  walk- 
ing in  darkness  for  days,  and  months,  and  years  to 
come,  how  long  soever  they  may  seem,  how  long  so 


360 


HIDINGS    OF    GODS    FACE. 


ever  they  may  be,  I  submit.  Still  will  I  adore  thee 
as  the  '  God  of  Israel,'  and  the  Savior,  though  'thou 
art  a  God  that  hidest  thyself.'  Isaiah,  45  :  15.  Still 
will  I  '  trust  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  stay  my 
self  upon  my  God,'  (Isaiah,  1  :  10,)  '  trusting  in  thee, 
though  thou  slay  me,'  (Job,  13  :  15,)  and  '  waiting 
for  thee,  more  than  they  that  watch  for  the  morning, 
yea,  more  than  they  that  watch  for  the  morning.' 
Psalm  130  :  6.  Peradventure  '  in  the  evening  time 
it  may  be  light.'  Zech.  14:7.  I  know  thou  hast 
sometimes  manifested  thy  compassion  to  thy  dying 
servants,  and  given  them,  in  the  lowest  ebb  of  their 
natural  spirits,  a  full  tide  of  divine  glory  ;  thus  turn- 
ing '  darkness  into  light  before  them.'  Isa.  42  :  15. 
So  may  it  please  thee  to  gild  '  the  Valley  of  the  Sha- 
dow of  Death r  with  the  light  of  thy  presence,  when 
I  am  passing  it,  and  to  stretch  forth  '  thy  rod  and  thy 
staff  to  comfort  me,'  (Psalm  23  :  4,)  that  my  trem- 
blings may  cease,  and  the  gloom  may  echo  with  songs 
of  praise  !  But  if  it  be  thy  sovereign  pleasure,  that 
distress  and  darkness  should  still  continue  to  the  last 
motion  of  my  pulse,  and  the  last  gasp  of  my  breath, 
O  let  it  cease  with  the  parting  struggle,  and  bring 
me  to  that  light  which  is  sown  for  the  righteous,  and 
to  that  gladness  which  is  reserved  '  for  the  upright 
in  heart ;'  (Psalm  97  :  11,)  to  the  unclouded  regions 
of  everlasting  splendor  and  joy,  where  the  full  anoint- 
ings of  thy  Spirit  shall  be  poured  out  upon  all  thy 
people,  and  thou  wilt  no  more  '  hide  thy  face  from 
any  of  them!'  Ezek.  39  :  29. 


STRUGGLING    UNDER    AFFLICTION.  36l 

"  This,  Lord,  is  '  thy  salvation  for  which  I  am 
waiting,'  (Gen.  49  :  18,)  and  whilst  I  feel  the  de- 
sires of  my  soul  drawn  out  after  it,  I  will  never  des- 
pair of  obtaining  it.  Continue  and  increase  those 
desires,  and  at  length  satisfy  and  exceed  them  all, 
'  through  the  riches  of  thy  grace  in  Christ  Jesus !' 
Amen." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  STRUGGLING  UNDER  GREAT  AND  HEAVY  AFFLICTION 

1.  Here  it  is  advised — that  afflictions  should  be  expected. — 2. 
That  the  righteous  hand  of  God  should  be  acknowledged  in 
them  when  they  come. — 3.  Thai  they  should  be  borne  with  pa- 
tience.— 4.  That  the  divine  conduct  in  them  should  be  cordial- 
ly approved. — 5.  That  thankfulness  should  be  maintained  in 
the  midst  of  trials. — 6.  That  the  design  of  afflictions  should 
be  diligently  inquired  into,  and  all  proper  assistance  taken  in 
discovering  it. — 7.  That,  when  it  is  discovered,  it  should 
humbly  be  complied  with  and  answered.  A  prayer  suited  to 
such  a  case. 

1.  Since  "  man  is  born  unto  trouble,  as  the  sparks 

fly  upward,"  (Job,  5:7,)  and  Adam  has  entailed  on 

all  his  race  the  sad  inheritance  of  calamity  in  their 

way  to  death,  it  will  certainly  be  prudent  and  neces- 

31 


352  STRUGGLING    UNDER    AFFLICTION. 

sary  that  we  should  all  expect  to  meet  with  trials 
and  afflictions ;  and  that  you,  reader,  whoever  you 
are,  should  be  endeavoring  to  gird  on  your  armor, 
and  put  yourself  in  a  posture  to  encounter  those  tri- 
als which  will  fall  to  your  lot  as  a  man  and  a  Chris- 
tian. Prepare  yourself  to  receive  your  afflictions, 
and  to  endure  them,  in  a  manner  agreable  to  both 
these  characters.  In  this  view,  when  you  see  others 
under  the  burden,  consider  how  possible  it  is  that  you 
may  be  called  out  to  the  very  same  difficulties,  or  to 
others  equal  to  them.  Put  your  soul  as  in  the  place 
of  theirs.  Think  how  you  could  endure  the  load 
under  which  they  lie,  and  endeavor  at  once  to  com- 
fort them,  and  to  strengthen  your  own  heart,  or  ra- 
ther pray  that  God  would  do  it.  And  observing  how 
liable  mortal  life  is  to  such  sorroxy^moderate  your 
expectations  from  it;  raise  your  tMughts  above  it; 
and  form  your  schemes  of  happiness  only  for  that! 
world  where  they  cannot  be  disappointed;  in  the: 
mean  time,  blessing  God  that  your  prosperity  is 
lengthened  out  thus  far,  and  ascribing  it  to  his  spe- 
cial providence  that  you  continue  so  long  unwound- 
ed,  when  so  many  showers  of  arrows  are  flying: 
around  you,  and  so  many  are  falling  by  them,  on 
the  right  hand  and  on  the  left. 

2.  When  at  length  your  turn  comes,  as  it  certainly , 
will,  from  the  first  hour  in  which  an  affliction  seizes 
you,  realize  to  yourself  the  hand  of  God  in  it,  and 
lose  not  the  view  of  .him  in  any  second  cause,  which 


STRUGGLING    UNDER    AFFLICTION.  363 

may  have  proved  the  immediate  occasion.  Let  it  be 
your  first  care  to  "  humble  yourself  under  the  mighty 
hand  of  God,  that  he  may  exalt  you  in  due  time." 
1  Pet.  5  :  6.  Own  that  "he  is  just  in  all  that  is 
brought  upon  you,"  (Neh.  9  :  33,)  and  that  in  all 
these  things  "he  punishes  you  less  than  your  ini- 
quities deserve."  Ezra,  9:13.  Compose  yourself 
to  bear  his  hand  with  patience,  to  glorify  his  name 
by  a  submission  to  his  will,  and  to  fall  in  with  the 
gracious  design  of  his  visitation,  as  well  as  to  wait 
the  issue  of  it  quietly,  whatsoever  the  event  may  be. 
3.  Now,  that  "  patience  may  have  its  perfect 
work,"  (James  1  :  4,)  reflect  frequently,  and  deeply, 
upon  your  own  unworthiness  and  sinfulness.  Con- 
sider how  often  every  mercy  has  been  forfeited,  and 
every  judgme^deserved.  And  consider,  too,  how 
long  the  patience  of  God  hath  borne  with  you,  and 
how  wonderfully  it  is  still  exerted  towards  you ;  and 
indeed  not  only  his  patience,  but  his  bounty  too. 
Afflicted  as  you  are,  (for  I  speak  to  you  now  as  ac- 
tually under  the  pressure,)  look  around  and  survey 
your  remaining  mercies,  and  be  gratefully  sensible 
of  them.  Make  the  supposition  of  their  being  re- 
moved :  what  if  God  should  stretch  out  his  hand 
against  you,  and  add  poverty  to  pain,  or  pain  to  po- 
verty, or  the  loss  of  friends  to  both,  or  the  death  of 
surviving  friends  to  that  of  those  whom  you  aie 
now  mourning  over  ;  would  not  the  wound  be  more 
grievous  1    Adore  his  goodness  that  this  is  not  the 


364  STRUGGLING    UNDER    AFFLICTION. 

case  ;  and  take  heed  lest  your  unthankfulness  should 
provoke  him  to  multiply  your  sorrows.  Consider 
also  the  need  you  have  of  discipline,  how  whole- 
some it  may  prove  to  your  soul,  and  what  merciful 
designs  our  Heavenly  Father  has  in  all  the  correc- 
tions he  sends  upon  his  children. 

4.  Nay,  I  will  add,  that,  in  consequence  of  all  I 
these  considerations,  it  may  be  well  expected,  noti 
only  that  you  should  submit  to  your  afflictions,  as; 
what  you  cannot  avoid,  but  that  you  should  sweetly 
acquiesce  in  them,  and  approve  them;  that  you: 
should  not  only  justify,  but  glorify  God  in  sending 
them ;  that  you  should  glorify  him  with  your  heart 
and  with  your  lips  too.  Think  not  praises  unsuita- 
ble on  such  an  occasion  ;  nor  that  praise  alone  to  be 
suitable,  which  takes  its  rise  from  remaining  com-. 
forts  ;  but  know  that  it  is  your  duty,  not  only  to  be 
thankful  in  your  afflictions,  but  to  be  thankful  on 
account  of  them. 

5.  God  himself  hath  said,  "in  every  thing  give 
thanks,"  (1  Thess.  5  :  18.)  and  he  has  taught  his; 
servants  to  say,  "  Yea,  also  we  glory  in  tribulation." 
Rom.  5  :  3.  And  most  certain  it  is,  that  to  true  be-: 
lievers,  afflictions  are  tokens  of  divine  mercy ;  for 
"whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth,  and  scourg- 
eth  every  son  whom  he  receiveth,"  with  peculiar  and 
distinguishing  endearment.  Heb.  12  :  6.  View  your 
present  afflictions  in  this  light,  as  chastisements  ol  i 

ove ;  and  then  let  your  own  heart  say,  whether  love 


STRUGGLING    UNDER    AFFLICTION.  365 

does  not  demand  praise.  Think  with  yourself,  "  it  is 
thus  that  God  is  making  me  conformable  to  his  own 
Son;  it  is  thus  that  he  is  training  me  up  for  com- 
plete glory.  Thus  he  kills  my  corruptions  ;  thus  he 
strengthens  my  graces ;  thus  he  is  wisely  contriving 
to  bring  me  nearer  to  himself,  and  to  ripen  me  for 
the  honors  of  his  heavenly  kingdom.  It  is,  if  need 
be,  that  '  I  am  in  heaviness,'  (1  Pet.  1  :  6,)  and  he 
surely  knows  what  that  need  is  better  than  I  can 
pretend  to  teach  him,  and  knows  what  peculiar  pro- 
priety there  is  in  this  affliction  to  answer  my  present 
necessity,  and  to  do  me  that  peculiar  good  which  he 
is  graciously  intending  me  by  it.  This  tribulation 
shall  '  work  patience,  and  patience  experience,  and 
experience'  a  more  assured  'hope,'  even  a  hope 
which  'shall  not  make  ashamed,'  while  the  love  of 
God  is  shed  abroad  in  my  heart,  (Rom.  5  :  3,  5;) 
and  shines  through  my  ^affliction,  like  the  sun 
through  a  gentle  descending  cloud,  darting  in  light 
upon  the  shade,  and  mingling  fruitfulness  with, 
weeping." 

6.  Let  it  be  then  your  earnest  care,  while  you 
thus  look  on  your  affliction,  whatever  it  may  be,  as 
coming  from  the  hand  of  God,  to  improve  it  to  the 
purposes  for  which  it  was  sent.  And  that  you  may 
so  improve  it,  let  it  be  your  first  concern  to  know 
what  those  purposes  are.  Summon  up  all  the  atten- 
tion of  your  soul  to  bear  the  rod,  and  him  "who 
hath  appointed  it,"  (Mic.  6:  9,)  and  pray  earnestly 
31* 


366  STRUGGLING    UNDER    AFFLICTION. 

that  you  may  understand  its  voice.  Examine  your 
life,  your  words  and  your  heart ;  and  pray  that  God 
would  so  guide  your  inquiries,  that  you  may  "  re- 
turn unto  the  Lord  that  smiteth  you."  Isaiah,  9  :  13. 
To  assist  you  in  this,  call  in  the  help  of  pious  friends, 
and  particularly  of  your  minister :  entreat  not  only 
their  prayers,  but  their  advice  too,  as  to  the  probable 
design  of  Providence ;  and  encourage  them  freely 
to  tell  you  any  thing  which  occurs  to  their  minds 
Upon  this  head.  And  if  such  an  occasion  should! 
lead  them  to  touch  upon  some  of  the  imperfections  off 
vour  character  and  conduct  look  upon  it  as  a  great! 
token  of  their  friendship,  and  take  it,  not  only  pa- 
tiently, but  thankfully.  It  does  but  ill  become  ai 
Christian,  at  any  time,  to  resent  reproofs  and  admoni- 
tions; and  least  of  all  does  it  become  him,  when  the 
rebukes  of  his  Heavenly  Father  are  upon  him.  He: 
ought  rather  to  seek  admonitions  at  such  a  time  as 
this,  and  voluntarily  offer  his  wounds  to  be  searched 
by  a  faithful  and  skillful  hand. 

7.  And  when,  by  one  means  or  another,  you  have 
got  a  ray  of  light  to  direct  you  in  the  meaning  and 
language  of  such  dispensations,  take  heed  that  you 
do  not,  in  any  degree,  "  harden  yourself  against  God, 
and  walk  contrary  to  him."  Lev.  26  :  27.  Obstinate: 
reluctance  to  the  apprehended  design  of  any  provi- 
dential stroke,  is  inexpressibly  provoking  to  him. 
Set  yourself,  therefore,  to  an  immediate  reformation 
of  whatever  you  discover  amiss,  and  labor  to  learn 


PRAYER    UNDER    AFFLICTION.  3G7 

the  general  lessons  of  greater  submission  to  God's 
will,  of  a  more  calm  indifference  to  the  world,  and 
of  a  closer  attachment  to  divine  converse,  and  to  the 
views  of  an  approaching  invisible  state.  And  what- 
ever particular  proportion  or  correspondence  you 
may  observe  between  this  or  that  circumstance  in 
your  affliction  and  your  former  transgressions,  be 
especially  careful  to  act  according  to  that  more  pe-  ■ 
culiar  and  express  voice  of  the  rod.  Then  you  may 
perhaps  have  speedy  and  remarkable  reasons  to  say, 
that  "  it  hath "  been  good  for  you  that  you  have 
been  afflicted,"  (Psalm  119:  71,)  and,  with  a  multi- 
tude of  others,  may  learn  to  number  the  times  of  your 
sharpest  trials  among  the  sweetest  and  most  exalted 
moments  of  your  life.  For  this  purpose,  let  prayer 
be  your  frequent  employment ;  and  let  such  senti- 
ments as  these,  if  not  in  the  very  same  terms,  be  often 
and  affectionately  poured  out  before  God. 

An   humble  Address  to    God  under  the  Pressure   of  heavy 
Affliction. 

"  O  thou  Supreme,  yet  all-righteous  and  gracious 
Governor  of  the  whole  universe  !  mean  and  incon- 
siderable as  this  little  province  of  thy  spacious  em- 
pire may  appear,  thou  dost  not  disregard  the  earth 
and  its  inhabitants,  but  attendest  to  its  concerns  with 
the  most  condescending  and  gracious  regard.  '  Thou 
reignest,  and  I  rejoice  in  it;'  as  it  is  indeed  'matter 
of  universal  joy.'  Psalm  97  :  1.    I  believe  thy  uni- 


368  PRAYER    UNDER    AFFLICTION. 

versal  providence  and  care  ;  and  I  firmly  believe  thy 
wise,  holy,  and  kind  interposition  in  every  thing" 
which  relates  to  me  and  to  the  circumstances  of  my 
abode  in  this  world.  I  would  look  through  all  infe- 
rior causes  unto  thee,  whose  eyes  are  upon  all  thy 
creatures ;  to  thee,  '  who  formest  light  and  createst 
darkness ;'  who  '  makest  peace  and  createst  evil ;' 
'  (Isaiah,  45  :  7,)  to  thee,  Lord,  who  at  thy  pleasure 
canst  exchange  the  one  for  the  other,  canst  turn  the 
brightest  noon  into  midnight,  and  the  darkest  mid- 
night into  noon ! 

"  Othou  wise  and  merciful  Governor  of  the  world ! 
I  have  often  said,  '  Thy  will  be  done  ;'  and  now,  thy 
will  is  painful  to  me.  But  shall  I  uppn  that  account 
unsay  what  I  have  so  often  said?  •  God  forbid !'  I 
come  rather  to  lay  myself  down  at  thy  feet,  and  to 
declare  my  full  and  free  submission  to  all  thy  sacred 
pleasure.  O  Lord  !  thou  art  just  and  righteous  in  all ! 
I  acknowledge,  in  thy  venerable  and  awful  presence, 
that  '  I  have  deserved  this,'  and  ten  thousand  times 
more.  Ezra:  9  :  13.  I  acknowledge  that '  it  is  of  thy 
mercy  that  I  am  not  utterly  consumed,'  (Lam.  3  :  22,)  • 
and  that  any,  the  least  degree,  of  comfort  yet  re- 
mains. O  Lord  !  I  most  readily  confess  that  the 
sins  of  one  day  of  my  life  have  merited  all  these 
chastisements;  and  that  every  day  of  my  life  has 
been  more  or  less  sinful.  Smite,  therefore,  O  thou 
Righteous  Judge  !  and  I  will  still  adore  thee,  that, 
instead  of  the  scourge,  thou  hast  not  given  a  commis- 


PRAYER    UNDER    AFFLICTION.  369 

sionto  the  sword,  to  do  all  the  dreadful  work  of  jus- 
tice, and  to  pour  out  my  blood  in  thy  presence. 
"But  shall  I  speak  unto  thee  only  as  my  Judge? 

0  Lord!  thou  hast  taught  me  a  tenderer  name: 
thou  condescendest  to  call  thyself  my  Father,  and  to 
speak  of  correction  as  the  effect  of  thy  love.  O  wel- 
come, welcome,  those  afflictions  which  are  the  to- 
kens of  thy  paternal  affection,  the  marks  of  my  adop- 
tion into  thy  family  !  Thou  knowest  what  discipline 

1  need.  Thou  seest,  O  Lord !  that  bundle  of  folly 
which  there  is  in  the  heart  of  thy  poor,  froward,  and 
thoughtless  child,  and  knowest  what  rods  and  what 
strokes  are  needful  to  drive  it  away.  I  would  there- 
fore '  be  in  humble  subjection  to  the  Father  of  spi- 
rits,' who  'chastened  me  for  my  profit;'  would  'be  in 
subjection  to  him  and  live.'  Heb.  12  :  9,  10.-  I 
would  bear  thy  strokes,  not  merely  because  I  can- 
not resist  them,  but  because  I  love  and  trust  in  thee. 
I  would  sweetly  acquiesce  and  rest  in  thy  will,  as  well 
as  stoop  to  it ;  and  would  say,  '  Good  is  the  word  of 
the  Lord;'  (2  Kings,  20  :  19,)  and  I  desire  that  not 
only  my  lips,  but  my  soul  may  acquiesce.  Yea, 
Lord,  I  would  praise  thee,  that  thou  wilt  show  so 
much  regard  to  me  as  to  apply  such  remedies  as 
these  to  the  diseases  of  my  mind,  and  art  thus  kindly 
careful  to  train  me  up  for  glory.  I  have  no  objection 
against  being  afflicted,  against  being  afflicted  in  this 
particular  way.  '  The  cup  which  my  Father  puts 
into  my  hand,  shall  I  not  drink  it?'  John,  18 :  11. 


370  STRUGGLING    UNDER    AFFLICTION. 

By  thine  assistance  and  support  I  will.  Only  be  pleas- 
ed, 0  Lord  !  to  stand  by  me,  and  sometimes  to  grant 
me  a  favorable  look  in  the  midst  of  my  sufferings  ! 
Support  my  soul,  I  beseech  thee,  by  thy  consolations 
mingled  with  my  tribulations,  and  I  shall  glory  in 
those  tribulations  that  are  thus  allayed  !  It  has  been 
the  experience  of  many,  who  have  reflected  on  af- 
flicted days  with  pleasure,  and  have  acknowledged 
that  their  comforts  have  swallowed  up  their  sorrows. 
And  after  all  that  thou  hast  done,  '  are  thy  mercies 
restrained?'  Isaiah,  63  :  15.  'Is  thy  hand  waxed 
short?'  Numb.  11  :  25.  Or  canst  thou  not  do  the 
same  for  me? 

11  If  my  heart  be  less  tender,  less  sensible,  thou 
canst  cure  that  disorder,  and  canst  make  this  afflic- 
tion the  means  of  curing  it.  Thus  let  it  be  ;  and  at 
length,  in  thine  own  due  time,  and  in  the  way 
which  thou  shalt  choose,  work  out  deliverance 
for  me,  'and  show  me  thy  marvellous  loving-kindness, 
0  thou  that  savest  by  thy  right  hand  them  that  put 
their  trust  in  thee  !'  Psalm  17:7.  For  I  well  know, 
that  how  dark  soever  this  night  of  affliction  maj 
seem,  if  thou  sayest,  '  Let  there  be  light,'  there  shall 
be  light.  But  I  would  urge  nothing  before  the  time 
thy  wisdom  and  goodness  shall  appoint.  I  am  much 
more  concerned  that  my  afflictions  may  be  sanctified, 
than  that  they  may  be  removed.  Number  me,  O 
God!  among  the  happy  persons  whom,  whilst  thou 
chastenest,  thou  '  teachest  out  of  thy  law !'  Psalm 


STRUGGLING    UNDER    AFFLICTION.  371 

94  :  12.  Show  me,  I  beseech  thee,  '  wherefore  thou 
eontendest  with  me,'  (Job,  10  :  2,)  and  purify  me 
by  the  fire,  which  is  so  painful  to  me  while  I  am 
passing  through  it  ?  Dost  thou  not  chasten  thy 
children  for  this  very  end,  'that  they  may  be  parta- 
kers of  thy  holiness?'  Heb.  12  :  JO.  Thou  know- 
est,  O  God!  it  is  this  my  soul  is  breathing  after.  I 
am  partaker  of  thy  bounty  every  day  and  moment 
of  my  life:  I  am  partaker  of  thy  Gospel,  and  I 
hope,  in  some  measure  too,  a  partaker  of  the  grace 
if  it  operating  on  my  heart.  O  may  it  operate 
more  and  more,  that  I  may  largely  partake  of  thine 
holiness  too  ;  that  I  may  come  nearer  and  nearer 
in  the  temper  of  my  mind  to  thee,  O  blessed  God  ! 
the  supreme  model  of  perfection  !  Let  my  soul  be, 
as  it  were,  melted,  though  with  the  intensest  heat  of 
the  furnace,  if  I  may  but  thereby  be  made  fit  for 
being  delivered  into  the  mold  of  the  Gospel,  and 
bearing  thy  bright  and  amiable  image  ! 

"  O  Lord,  'my  soul  longeth  for  thee ;  it  crieth  out 
for  the  living  God!'  Psalm  84  :  2.  In  thy  presence, 
and  under  the  support  of  thy  love,  I  can  bear  any 
thing;  and  am  willing  to  bear  it,  if  I  may  grow  more 
lovely  in  thine  eyes,  and  more  meet  for  thy  king- 
dom. The  days  of  my  affliction  will  have  an  end  ; 
the  hour  will  at  length  come,  when  thou  'wilt 
wipe  away  all  my  tears.'  Rev.  21:4.  '  Though  it 
t?.rry,'  I  would  '  wait  for  it.'  Heb.  2:3.  My  foolish 
heart,  in  the  midst  of  all  its  trials,  is  ready  to  grow 


372  GROWTH    IN    GRACE. 

fond  of  this  earth,  disappointing  and  grievous  as  it 
is ;  and  graciously,  O  God,  dost  thou  deal  with  me, 
in  breaking  those  bonds  that  would  tie  me  faster  to 
it.  O  let  my  soul  be  girding  itself  up,  and,  as  it 
were,  stretching  its  wings  in  expectation  of  that 
blessed  hour  when  it  shall  drop  all  its  sorrows  and 
incumbrances  at  once,  and  soar  away,  to  expatiate 
with  infinite  delight  in  the  regions  of  liberty,  peace 
and  joy.   Amen. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


THE    CHRISTIAN    ASSISTED   IN    EXAMINING    INTO    HIS   GROWTH    IN 
GRACE. 

1.  The  examination  important. — 2.  False  marks  of  growth  to 
be  avoided. — 3.  True  marks  proposed;  such  as — increas- 
ing love  to  God. — 4.  Benevolence  to  men. — 5.  Candor  of  dis- 
position.— 6.  Meekness  under  injuries. — 7.  Serenity  amidst 
.  the  uncertainties  of  life. — 8.  Humility, — especially  as  ex- 
pressed in  evangelical  exercises  of  mind  toicard  Christ  and 
the  Holy  Spirit. — 10.  Zeal  for  the  divine  honor. — 11. 
Habitual  and  cheerful  willingness  to  exchange  vwrlds  when 
ever  God  shall  appoint. — 12.  Conclusion.  The  Christian 
breathing  after  growth  in  grace. 

1.  If  by  divine  grace  you  have  "  been  born  again, 
not  of  corruptible  seed,  but  of  incorruptible,"  (1  Pet. 


GROWTH    IN    GRACE.  373 

1  :  2,  3,)  even  "by  that  word  of  God  which  liveth 
and  abideth  for  ever,"  not  only  in  the  world  and  the 
church,  but  in  particular  souls  in  which  it  is  sown  ; 
you  will,  **  as  new  born  babes,  desire  the  sincere 
milk  of  the  word,  that  you  may  grow  thereby."  1 
Pet.  2  :  2.  And  though  in  the  most  advanced  state 
of  religion  on  earth,  we  are  but  infants  in  compari- 
son to  what  we  hope  to  be,  when,  in  the  heavenly 
world,  we  arrive  "  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the 
measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ,  (Eph. 
4  :  13,)  yet,  as  we  have  some  exercise  of  a  sancti- 
fied reason,  we  shall  be  solicitous  that  we  may  be 
growing  and  thriving.  And  you,  my  reader,  "  if  so 
be  you  have  tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gracious,  (1 
Pet.  2  :  3,)  will,  I  doubt  not,  feel  this  solicitude.  I 
would,  therefore,  endeavor  to  assist  you  in  making 
the  inquiry,  whether  religion  be  on  the  advance  in 
your  soul.  And  here  I  shall  warn  you  against 
some  false  marks  of  growth,  and  then  shall  endea- 
vor to  lay  down  others  on  which  you  may  depend 
as  more  solid.  In  this  view  I  would  observe,  that 
you  are  not  to  measure  your  growth  in  grace  only 
or  chiefly  by  your  advances  in  knowledge,  or  in 
zeal,  or  any  other  passionate  impression  of  the  mind, 
no,  nor  by  the  fervor  of  devotion  alone ;  but  by  the 
habitual  determination  of  the  will  for  God,  and  by 
your  prevailing  disposition  to  obey  his  commands, 
submit  to  his  disposal,  and  promote  the  highest  wel- 
fare Of  his  cause  in  the  earth. 
32 


374  GROWTH    IN    GRACE, 

2.  It  must  be  allowed  that  knowledge  and  affec- 
tion in  religion  are  indeed  desirable.  Without  some 
degree  of  the  former,  religion  cannot  be  rational ; 
and  it  is  very  reasonable  to  believe,  that  without 
some  degree  of  the  latter  it  cannot  be  sincere,  in 
creatures  whose  natures  are  constituted  like  ours. 
Yet  there  may  be  a  great  deal  of  speculative 
knowledge,  and  a  great  deal  of  rapturous  affection, 
where  there  is  no  true  religion  at  all ;  and  still  more, 
where  religion  exists,  though  there  be  no  advanced 
state  of  it.  The  exercise  of  our  rational  faculties, 
upon  the  evidences  of  divine  revelation,  and  upon 
the  declaration  of  it  as  contained  in  Scripture,  may 
furnish  a  very  wicked  man  with  a  well-digested  body 
of  orthodox  divinity  in  his  head,  when  not  one  single 
doctrine  of  it  has  ever  reached  his  heart.  An  elo- 
quent description  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  of  the 
solemnities  of  judgment,  of  the  joys  of  the  blessed, 
and  the  miseries  of  the  damned,  might  move  the 
breast  even  of  a  man  who  did  not  firmly  believe 
them  ;  as  we  often  find  ourselves  strongly  moved  by 
well-wrought  narrations  or  discourses,  which  at  the 
same  time  we  know  to  have  their  foundation  in  fic- 
tion. Natural  constitution,  or  such  accidental  causes 
as  are  (some  of  them)  too  low  to  be  here  mentioned, 
may  supply  the  eyes  with  a  flood  of  tears,  which 
may  discharge  itself  plenteously  upon  almost  any 
occasion  that  shall  first  arise.  And  a  proud  impa- 
tience of  contradiction,  directly  opposite  as  it  is  to  the 


GROWTH    IN    GRACE.  375 

gentle  spirit  of  Christianity,  may  make  a  man's  blood 
boil  when  he  hears  the  notions  he  has  entertained, 
and  especially  those  which  he  has  openly  and  vigo- 
rously espoused,  disputed  and  opposed.  This  may 
possibly  lead  him,  in  terms  of  strong  indignation,  to 
pour  out  his  zeal  and  his  rage  before  God,  in  a  fond 
conceit,  that,  as  the  God  of  truth,  he  is  the  pattern 
of  those  favorite  .doctrines  by  whose  fair  appear- 
ances perhaps  he  himself  is  misled.  And  if  these 
speculative  refinements,  or  these  affectionate  sallies 
of  the  mind,  be  consistent  with  a  total  absence  of 
true  religion,  they  are  much  more  apparently  con- 
sistent with  a  very  low  state  of  it.  I  would  desire  to 
lead  you,  my  friend,  into  sublimer  notions  and  juster 
marks,  and  refer  you  to  other  practical  writers,  and, 
above  all,  to  the  book  of  God,  to  prove  how  material 
they  are.  I  would  therefore  entreat  you  to  bring 
your  own  heart  to  answer,  as  in  the  presence  of 
God,  such  inquiries  as  these  : 

3.  Do  you  find  "  divine  love,  on  the  whole,  advanc- 
ing in  your  soul  ?"  Do  you  feel  yourself  more  and 
more  sensible  of  the  presence  of  God  ?  and  does  that 
sense  grow  more  delightful  to  you  than  it  formerly 
was  ?  Can  you,  even  when  your  natural  spirits  are 
weak  and  low,  and  you  are  not  in  any  frame  for  the 
ardors  and  ecstacies  of  devotion,  nevertheless  find  a 
pleasing  rest,  a  calm  repose  of  heart,  in  the  thought 
that  God  is  near  you,  and  that  he  sees  the  secret  sen- 
timents of  your  soul,  while  you  are,  as  it  were,  la- 


376  GROWTH    IN    GRACE. 

boring  up  the  hill,  and  casting  a  longing  eye  toward 
him,  though  you  cannot  say  you  enjoy  any  sensi- 
ble communications  from  him  ?  Is  it  agreeable  to 
you  to  open  your  heart  to  his  inspection  and  regard, 
to  present  it  to  him  laid  bare  of  every  disguise,  and 
say  with  David,  "  Thou,  Lord,  knowest  thy  ser- 
vant?" 2  Sam.  7  :  20.  Do  you  find  a  growing  es- 
teem and  approbation  of  that  sacred  law  of  God, 
which  is  the  transcript  of  his  moral  perfections  ?  Do 
you  inwardly  "  esteem  all  his  precepts  concerning 
all  things  to  be  right?"  Psalm  119:  128.  Do  you 
discern,  not  only  the  necessity,  but  the  reasonable- 
ness, the  beauty,  the  pleasure  of  obedience  :  and  feel 
a  growing  scorn  and  contempt  of  those  things  which 
may  be  offered  as  the  price  of  your  innocence,  and 
would  tempt  you  to  sacrifice  or  hazard  your  interest 
in  the  divine  favor  and  friendship  ?  Do  you  find 
an  ingenuous  desire  to  please  God,  not  only  because 
he  is  so  powerful,  and  has  so  many  good  and  so  ma- 
ny evil  things  entirely  at  his  command,  but  from  a 
veneration  of  his  most  amiable  nature  and  charac- 
ter ?  and  do  you  find  your  heart  habitually  recon- 
ciled to  a  most  humble  subjection,  both  to  his  com- 
manding and  to  his  disposing  will  ?  Do  you  per- 
ceive that  your  own  will  is  now  more  ready  and 
disposed,  in  every  circumstance,  to  bear  the  yoke, 
and  to  submit  to  the  divine  determination,  whatever 
he  appoints  to  be  borne  or  forborne  ?  Can  you  "  in 
patience  possess  your  soul?"  Luke,  21  :  19.     Can 


GROWTH    IN    GRACE.  377 

you  maintain  a  more  steady  calmness  and  serenity, 
when  God  is  striking  at  your  dearest  enjoyments  in 
this  world,  and  acting  most  directly  contrary  to  your 
present  interests,  to  your  natural  passions  and  de- 
sires !  If  you  can,  it  is  a  most  certain  and  noble  sign 
that  grace  is  growing  up  in  you  to  a  very  vigorous 
state. 

4.  Examine  also,  "  what  affections  you  rind  in 
your  heart  toward  those  who  are  about  you,  and  to- 
ward the  rest  of  mankind  in  general."  Do  you  find 
your  heart  overflow  with  undissembled  and  unre- 
strained benevolence?  Are  you  more  sensible  than 
you  once  were,  of  those  most  endearing  bonds  which 
unite  all  men,  and  especially  all  Christians,  into  one 
community  ;  which  make  them  brethren  and  fellow- 
citizens?  Do  all  the  unfriendly  passions  die  and 
wither  in  your  soul,  while  the  kind,  social  affections 
grow  and  strengthen  %  And  though  self-love  was 
never  the  reigning  passion  since  you  became  a  true 
Christian  ;  yet,  as  some  remainders  of  it  are  still  too 
ready  to  work  inwardly,  and  to  snow  themselves, 
especially  as  sudden  occasions  arise,  do  you  perceive 
that  you  are  getting  ground  of  them  ?  Do  you  think 
of  yourself  only  as  one  of  a  great  number,  whose  par- 
ticular interests  and  concerns  are  of  little  impor- 
tance when  compared  with  those  of  the  community, 
and  ought  by  all  means,  on  all  occasions,  to  be  sa- 
crificed to  them  % 

5.  Reflect  especially  "  on  the  temper  of  your  mind 

32* 


378  GROWTH    IN    GRACE. 

toward  those  whom  an  unsanctified  heart  might  be 
ready  to  imagine  it  had  some  just  excuse  for  except- 
ing out  of  the  list  of  those  it  loves,  and  from  whom 
you  are  ready  to  feel  some  secret  alienation  or  aver- 
sion." How  does  your  mind  stand  affected  toward 
those  who  differ  from  you  in  their  religious  senti- 
ments and  practices?  I  do  not  say  that  Christian 
charity  will  require  you  to  think  every  error  harm- 
less. It  argues  no  want  of  love  to  a  friend,  in  some 
cases,  to  fear  lest  his  disorder  should  prove  more  fa- 
tal than  he  seems  to  imagine :  nay,  sometimes  the 
very  tenderness  of  friendship  may  increase  that  ap- 
prehension. But  to  hate  persons  because  we  think 
they  are  mistaken,  and  to  aggravate  every  difference' 
in  judgment  or  practice  into  a  fatal  and  damnable 
error  that  destroys  all  Christian  communion  and 
love,  is  a  symptom  generally  much  worse  than  the 
evil  it  condemns.  Do  you  love  the  image  of  Christ 
in  a  person  who  thinks- himself  obliged  in  con- 
science to  profess  and  worship  in  a  manner  different 
from  yourself?  Nay,  farther,  can  you  love  and  honor 
that  which  is  truly  amiable  and  excellent  in  those- 
in  whom  much  is  defective ;  in  those  in  whom  there 
is  a  mixture  of  bigotry  and  narrowness  of  spirit, 
which  may  lead  them  perhaps  to  slight,  or  even  to 
censure  you?  Can  you  love  them  as  the  disciples 
and  servants  of  Christ,  who,  through  a  mistaken  zeal, 
may  be  ready  to  "  cast  out  your  name  as  evil,"  (Luke 
6  :  22,)  and  to  warn  others  against  you  as  a  dange- 


GROWTH    IN    GRACE.  379 

rous  person  1  This  is  none  of  the  least  triumphs  of 
charity,  nor  any  despicable  evidence  of  an  advance 
in  religion. 

.  6.  And,  on  this  head,  reflect  farther,  "  How  can 
you  bear  injuries  ?"  There  is  a  certain  hardness  of 
soul  in  this  respect,  which  argues  a  confirmed  state 
in  piety  and  virtue.  Does  every  thing  of  this  kind 
hurry  and  ruffle  you,  so  as  to  put  you  on  contri- 
vances how  you  may  recompense,  or,  at  least,  how 
you  may  disgrace  and  expose  him  who  has 
done  you  the  wrong?  Or  can  you  stand  the  shock 
calmly,  and  easily  divert  your  mind  to  other  objects, 
only  (when  you  recollect  these  things)  pitying  and 
praying  for  those  who  with  the  worst  tempers  and 
views  are  assaulting  you  ?  This  is  a  Christ-like 
temper  indeed,,  and  he  will  own  it  as  such;  will 
own  you  as  one  of  his  soldiers,  as  one  of  his  heroes .; 
especially  if  it  rises  so  far,  as,  instead  of  being 
"overcome  of  evil,  to  overcome  evil  with  good." 
Rom.  12  :  21.  Watch  over  your  spirit  and  over 
your  tongue,  when  injuries  are  offered,  and  see 
whether  you  be  ready  to  meditate  upon  them,  to  ag- 
gravate them  in  your  own  view,  to  complain  of  them 
to  others,  and  to  lay  on  all  the  load  of  blame  that 
you  in  justice  can ;  or,  whether  you  be  ready  to  put 
the  kindest  construction  upon  the  offence,  to  excuse 
it  as  far  as  reason  will  allow,  and  (where,  after  all, 
it  will  wear  a  black  and  odious  aspect)  to  forgive  it, 
heartily  to  forgive  it,  and  that  even  before  any  sub- 


380  GROWTH    IN    GRACE. 

mission  is  made,  or  pardon  asked ;  and  in  token 
of  the  sincerity  of  that  forgiveness,  to  be  contriving 
what  can  be  done,  by  some  benefit  or  other,  toward 
the  injurious  person,  to  teach  him  a  better  temper. 

7.  Examine  farther,  "  with  regard  to  other  evils 
and  calamities  of  life,  and  even  with  regard  to  its 
uncertainties,  how  you  can  bear  them."  Do  you 
find  your  soul  is  in  this  respect  gathering  strength  ? 
Have  you  fewer  foreboding  fears  and  disquieting 
alarms  than  you  once  had,  as  to  what  may  happen 
in  life?  Can  you  trust  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of 
God  to  order  your  affairs  for  you,  with  more  com- 
placency and  cheerfulness  than  formerly  ?  Do  you 
find  yourself  able  to  unite  your  thoughts  more  in 
surveying  present  circumstances,  that  you  may  col- 
lect immediate  duty  from  them,  though  you  know 
not  what  God  will  next  appoint  or  call  you  to?  And 
when  you  feel  the  smart  of  affliction,  do  you  make 
a  less  matter  of  it  ?  Can  you  transfer  your  heart 
more  easily  to  heavenly  and  divine  objects,  without 
an  anxious  solicitude  whether  this  or  that  burden  be 
removed,  so  it  may  but  be  sanctified  to  promote  your 
communion  with  God  and  your  ripeness  for  glory? 

8.  Examine  also,  "  whether  you  advance  in  hu- 
mility." This  is  a  silent  but  most  excellent  grace; 
and  they  who  are  most  eminent  in  it,  are  dearest  to 
God,  and  most  fit  for  the  communications  of  his  pre- 
sence to  them.  Do  you  then  feel  your  mind  more 
emptied  of  proud  and  haughty  imaginations,  not 


GROWTH    IN    GRACE.  381 

prone   so   much  to  look  back  upon  past  services 

which  it  has  performed,  as  forward  to  those  which 

are  yet  before  you,  and  inward  upon  the  remaining 

imperfections  of  your  heart  ?   Do  you  rhore  tenderly 

observe  your  daily  failures  and  miscarriages,  and 

find  yourself  disposed  to  mourn   over  those  things 

before  the  Lord,  that  once  passed  with  you  as  slight 

matters,  though,  when  you  come  to  survey  them  as 

in  the  presence  of  God,  you  find  they  were  not 

wholly  m voluntary  or  free  from  guilt?  Do  you  feel 

in  your  breast  a  deeper  apprehension  of  the  infinite 

majesty  of  the  blessed  God,  and  of  the  glory  of  his 

natural  and  moral  perfections,  so  as,  in  consequence 

of  these  views,  to  perceive  yourself  as  it  were  anni- 

!  hilated  in  his  presence,  and  to  shrink  into  "  less  than 

nothing,  and  vanity?"   Isaiah,  40  :   17.     If  this  be 

!  your  temper,  God  will  look  upon  you  with  peculiar 

|  favor,  and  will  visit  you  more  and  more  with  the 

(  distinguishing  blessings  of  his  grace. 

9.  But  there  is  another  great  branch  and  effect  of 
,  Christian  humility,  which  it  would  be  an  unpardon- 
i  able  negligence  to  omit.  Let  me  therefore  farther  in- 
quire, are  you  more  frequently  renewing  your  appl  ica- 
tion,  your  sincere,  steady,  determined  application,  to 
the  righteousness  and  blood  of  Christ,  as  being  sen- 
-sible  how  unworthy  you  are  to  appear  before  God 
otherwise  than  in  him?  And  do  the  remaining  cor- 
ruptions of  your  heart  humble  you  before  him,  though 
the  disorders  of  your  life  are  in  a  great  measure 


382  GROWTH    IN    GRACE. 

cured?  Are  you  more  earnest  to  obtain  the  quick- 
ening influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ?  And  have  you 
such  a  sense  of  your  own  weakness  as  to  engage 
you  to  depend*,  in  all  the  duties  you  perform,  upon 
the  communications  of  his  grace  to  ,!  help  your  infir- 
mities ?"  Rom.  8  :  26.  Can  you,  at  the  close  of  your 
most  religious,  exemplary,  and  useful  days,  blush 
before  God  for  the  deficiencies  of  them,  while  others 
perhaps  .may  be  ready  to  admire  and  extol  your 
conduct?  And  while  you  give  the  glory  of  all  that 
has  been  right  to  him  from  whom  the  strength  and 
grace  has  been  derived,  are  you  coming  to  the 
blood  of  sprinkling,  to  free  you  from  the  guilt  which 
mingles  itself  even  with  the  best  of  your  services  ? 
Do  you  learn  to  receive  the  bounties  of  Providence, 
not  only  with  thankfulness,  as  coming  from  God, 
but  with  a  mixture  of  shame  and  confusion  too,  un- 
der a  consciousness  that  you  do  not  deserve  them, 
and  are  continually  forfeiting  them?  And  do  you 
justify  Providence  in  your  afflictions  and  disappoint- 
ments, even  while  many  are  flourishing  around  you 
full  in  the  bloom  of  prosperity,  whose  offences  have 
been  more  visible  at  least,  and  more  notorious  than 
yours  ? 

10.  Do  you  also  advance  "in  zeal  and  activity" 
for  the  service  of  God  and  the  happiness  of  mankind? 
Does  your  love  show  itself  solid  and  sincere,  by  a 
continual  flow  of  good  works  from  it?  Can  you 
view  the  sorrows  of  others  with  tender  compassion, 


GROWTH    IN    GRACE.  383 

and  with  projects  and  contrivances  what  you  may- 
do  to  relieve  them  ?  Do  you  feel  in  your  breast  that 
you  are  more  frequently  "  devising  liberal  things," 
(Isaiah,  32  :  8,)  and  ready  to  wraive  your  own  ad- 
vantage or  pleasure  that  you  may  accomplish  them  1 
Do  you  find  your  imagination  teeming,  as  it  were, 
with  conceptions  and  schemes  for  the  advancement 
of  the  cause  and  interest  of  Christ  in  the  world,  for 
the  propagation  of  his  Gospel,  and  for  the  happiness 
of  your  fellow-creatures  ?  And  do  you  not  only 
pray,  but  act  for  it ;  act  in  such  a  manner  as  to  show 
that  you  pray  in  earnest,  and  feel  a  readiness  to  do 
what  little  you  can  in  this  cause,  even  though  others, 
who  might,  if  they  pleased,  very  conveniently  do  a 
vast  deal  more,  will  do  nothing  ? 

11.  And,  not  to  enlarge  upon  this  copious  head,  re- 
flect once  more,  "  how  your  affections  stand  with  re- 
gard to  this  world  and  another."  Are  you  more  deeply 
and  practically  convinced  of  the  vanity  of  these 
"things  which  are  seen,  and  are  temporal?"  2  Cor. 
4  :  18.  Do  you  perceive  your  expectations  from 
them,  and  your  attachments  to  them  to  diminish  ?  You 
are  willing  to  stay  in  this  world  as  long  as  your  Fa- 
ther pleases ;  and  it  is  right  and  well ;  but  do  you 
find  your  bonds  so  loosened  to  it,  that  you  are  wil- 
ling, heartily  willing,  to  leave  it  at  the  shortest 
warning;  so  that  if  God  should  see  fit  to  sum- 
mon you  away  on  a  sudden,  though  it  should  be 
in  the  midst  of  your  enjoyments,  pursuits,  expec- 


384  GROWTH    IN    GRACE. 

tations,  and  hopes,  you  would  cordially  consent  to 
that  remove  without  saying,  "  Lord,  let  me  stay  a 
little  while  longer,  to  enjoy  this  or  that  agreeable 
entertainment,  to  finish  this  or  that  scheme  ?"  Can 
you  think,  with  an  habitual  calmness  and  hearty 
approbation,  if  such  be  the  divine  pleasure,  of  wak- 
ing no  more  when  you  lie  down  on  your  bed,  of  re- 
turning home  no  more  when  you  go  out  of  your 
house  ?  And  yet  on  the  other  hand,  how  great  soev- 
er the  burdens  of  life  are,  do  you  find  a  willingness  to 
bear  them,  in  submission  to  the  will  of  your  hea- 
venly Father,  though  it  should  be  to  many  future 
years,  and  though  they  should  be  years  of  far  great- 
er affliction  than  you  have  ever  yet  seen  ?  Can  you 
say  calmly  and  steadily,  if  not  with  such  overflow- 
ings of  tender  affection  as  you  could  desire,  "  Be- 
hold, 'thy  servant,'  thy  child  is  'in  thine  hand,  do 
with  me  as  seemeth  good  in  thy  sight !'  2  Sam.  15: 
26.  My  will  is  melted  into  thine ;  to  be  lifted  up  or 
laid  down,  to  be  carried  out  or  brought  in,  to  be  here 
or  there,  in  this  or  that  circumstance,  just  as  thou 
pleasest,  and  as  shall  best  suit  with  thy  great  exten- 
sive plan,  which  it  is  impossible  that  I,  or  all  the 
angels  in  heaven,  should  mend." 

12.  These,  if  I  understand  matters  aright,  are 
some  of  the  most  substantial  evidences  of  growth 
and  establishment  in  religion.  Search  after  them; 
bless  God  for  them,  so  far  as  you  discover  them  in 
yourself,  and  study  to  advance  in  them  daily,  un- 


GROWTH    IN    GRACE  385 

der  the  influences  of  divine  grace;  to  which  I  hear- 
tily recommend  you,  and  to  which  I  entreat  you 
frequently  to  recommend  yourself. 

The  Christian  breathing  earnestly  after  growth  in  Grace. 

u  O  thou  ever-blessed  Fountain  of  natural  and 
spiritual  life!  I  thank  thee  that  I  live,  and  know 
the  exercises  and  pleasures  of  a  religious  life.  I 
bless  thee  that  thou  hast  infused  into  me  thine  own 
vital  breath,  though  I  was  once  \  dead  in  trespasses 
and  sins,'  (Eph.  2  :  1,)  so  that  I  am  become,  in  a 
sense  peculiar  to  thine  own  children,  '  a  living  soul.' 
Gen.  2  :  7.  But  it  is  my  earnest  desire  that  I  may 
not  only  live  but  grow,  'grow  in  grace,  and  in  the 
knowledge  of  my  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ,' 
(2  Pet.  3  :  18,)  upon  an  acquaintance  with  whom  my 
progress  in  it  so  evidently  depends.  In  this  view,  I 
humbly  entreat  thee  that  thou  wilt  form  my  mind  to 
right  notions  in  religion,  that  I  may  not  judge  of 
grace  by  any  wrong  conceptions  of  it,  nor  measure 
my  advances  in  it  by  those  things  which  are  merely 
the  effects  of  nature,  and  possibly  its  corrupt  effects ! 

"  May  I  be  seeking  after  an  increase  of  divine 
love  to  thee,  my  God  and  Father  in  Christ,  of  unre- 
served resignation  to  thy  wise  and  holy  will,  and  of 
extensive  benevolence  to  my  fellow-creatures  !  May 
I'grow  in  patience  and  fortitude  of  soul,  in  humility 
and  zeal,  in  spirituality  and  a  heavenly  disposition 
of  mind,  and  in  a  concern,  '  that,  whether  present  or 
33 


386  GROWTH    IN    GRACE. 

absent,  I  may  be  accepted  of  the  Lord,'  (2  Cor.  5  :  9.) 
that  whether  I  live  or  die,  it  may  be  for  thy  glory. 
In  a  word,  as  thou  knowest  1  hunger  and  thirst  af- 
ter righteousness,  make  me  whatever  thou  wouldst 
delight  to  see  me  !  Draw  on  my  soul,  by  the  gentle 
influences  of  thy  gracious  Spirit,  every  trace,  and 
every  feature,  which  thine  eye,  O  Heavenly  Father, 
may  survey  with  pleasure,  and  which  thou  mayest 
acknowledge  as  thine  own  image. 

u  I  am  sensible,  O  Lord,  I  have  not  as  yet  attain- 
ed, yea,  my  soul  is  utterly  confounded  to  think  how 
far  I  am  from  being  already  perfect ;  but  this  one 
thing  (after  thy  great  example  of  thine  apostle)  I 
would  endeavor  to  do  :  '  forgetting  the  things  which 
are  behind,  I  would  press  forward  to  those  which 
are  before.'  Phil.  3  :  12,  13.  O  that  thou  wouldst 
feed  my  soul  by  thy  word  and  Spirit !  Having  been, 
as  I  humbly  hope  and  trust,  regenerated  by  it,  'be- 
ing born  again,  not  of  corruptible  seed,  but  of  in- 
corruptible, even  by  thy  word,  which  liveth  and  abid- 
eth  for  ever;'  (1  Pet.  1  :  23,)  'as  a  new-born  babe, 
I  desire  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word,  that  I  may 
grow  thereby.'  1  Pet.  2 :  2.  And  may  '  my  profiting 
appear  unto  all  men,'  (1  Tim.  4  :  15,)  till  at  length 
'  I  come  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure 
of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ,'  (Eph.  4:  13,) 
and  after  having  enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  those  that 
flourish  eminently  in  thy  courts  below,  be  fixed  in  the 
paradise  above !    I  ask  and  hope  it  through  our  Lord 


GRATEFUL    JOY    IN    GOD.  387 

and  Savior  Jesus  Christ;'  'to  him  be  glory,  both 
now  and  for  ever  !'  2  Pet.  3  :  18.    Amen." 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  ADVANCED  CHRISTIAN  REMINDED  OF  THE  MERCIES  OP  GOD, 
AND  EXHORTED  TO  THE  EXERCISE  OF  HABITUAL  LOVE  TO  HIM, 
AND  JOY  IN  HIM. 

1.  A  holy  joy  in  God,  our  privilege  as  well  as  our  duty.— 2. 
The  Christian  invited  to  the  exercise  ofit.-r$.  By  the  consid- 
eration of  temporal  mercies.— 4.  And  of  spiritual  favors.— 
5.  By  the  views  of  eternal  happiness.— 6.  And  of  the  mer- 
cies of  God  to  others,  the  living  and  the  dead.—*!.  The  chap- 
ter closes  with  an  exhortation  to  this  heavenly  exercise.  And 
with  an  example  of  the  genuine  workings  of  this  grateful  joy 
in  God. 

1.  I  would  now  suppose  my  reader  to  find,  on  an 
examination  of  his  spiritual  state,  that  he  is  growing 
in  grace.  And  if  you  desire  that  this  growth  may  at 
once  be  acknowledged  and  promoted,  let  me  call  your 
soul  "  to  that  more  affectionate  exercise  of  love  to 
God  and  joy  in  him,"  which  suits,  and  strengthens, 
and  exalts  the  character  of  the  advanced  Christian; 
and  which  I  beseech  you  to  regard,  not  only  as  your 
'  privilege,  but  as  your  duty  too.  Love  is  the  most 
sublime,  generous  principle,  of  all  true  and  accepta- 
ble obedience-,  and  with  love,  when  so  wisely  and 


388  GRATEFUL    JOY    IN    GOD. 

happily  fixed,  when  so  certainly  returned,  joy,  pro- 
portionable joy,  must  naturally  be  connected.  It 
may  justly  grieve  a  man  that  enters  into  the  spirit  of 
Christianity,  to  see  how  low  a  life  even  the  generality 
of  sincere  Christians  commonly  live  in  this  respect. 
"  Rejoice  then  in  the  Lord,  ye  righteous,  and  give 
thanks  at  the  remembrance  of  his  holiness,"  (Psalm 
97 :  12,)  and  of  all  those  other  perfections  and  glo- 
ries which  are  included  in  that  majestic,  that  won- 
derful, that  delightful  name,  The  Lord  thy  Cod! 
Spend  not  your  sacred  moments  merely  in  confession 
or  in  petition,  though  each  must  have  their  daily 
share;  but  give  a  part,  a  considerable  part,  to  the  ce- 
lestial and  angelic  work  of  praise.  Yea,  labor  to 
carry  about  with  you  continually,  a  heart  overflow- 
ing with  such  sentiments,  warmed  and  inflamed 
with  such  affections. 

2.  Are  there  not  continually  rays  enough  diffused 
from  the  great  Father  of  light  and  love  to  enkindle  it 
in  our  bosom?  Come,  my  Christian  friend  and  bro- 
ther, come  and  survey  with  me  the  goodness  of  our 
heavenly  Father.  And  oh  !  that  he  would  give  me 
such  a  sense  of  it,  that  I  might  represent  it  in  a  suit- 
able manner,  that  "  while  I  am  musing,  the  fire  may 
burn  "  in  my  own  heart,  (Psalm  39  :  3,)  and  be 
communicated  to  yours  !  And  oh !  that  it  might 
pass,  with  the  lines  I  write,  from  soul  to  soul,  awa- 
kening in  the  breast  of  every  Christian  that  reads 
them,  sentiments  more  worthy  the  children  of  God 


GRATEFUL    JOY    IN    GOD.  389 

and  the  heirs  of  glory,  who  are  to  spend  an  eternity 
in  those  sacred  exercises  to  which  I  am  now  endea- 
voring to  excite  you. 

3.  Have  you  not  reason  to  adopt  the  words  of  Da- 
vid, and  say,  "  How  many  are  thy  gracious  thoughts 
unto  me,  O  Lord  !  How  great  is  the  sum  of  them  ! 
When  I  would  count  them,  they  are  more  in  num- 
ber than  the  sand."  Psalm  139:  17,18.  You  in- 
deed know  where  to  begin  the  survey,  for  the  favors 
of  God  to  you  began  with  your  being.  Commemo- 
rate it  therefore  with  a  grateful  heart,  that  the  eyes 
which  "  saw  your  substance,  being  yet  imperfect," 
beheld  you  with  a  friendly  care  ''  when  you  were 
made  in  secret,"  and  have  watched  over  you  ever 
since;  and  that  the  hand  which  "drew  the  plan  of 
your  members,  when  us  yet  there  was  none  of  them," 
(Psalm  139  :  15,  16,)  not  only  fashioned  them  at 
first,  but  from  that  time  has  been  concerned  in 
I  keeping  all  your  bones,  so  that  none  of  them  is 
broken,"  (Psalm  34  :  20,)  and  that,  indeed,  it  is  to 
this  you  owe  it  that  you  live.  Look  back  upon  the 
path  you  have  trod,  from  the  day  that  God  brought 
you  out  of  the  womb,  and  say  whether  you  do  not, 
as  it  were,  see  all  the  road  thick  set  with  the  marks 
and  memorials  of  the  divine  goodness.  Recollect  the 
places  where  you  have  lived,  and  the  persons  with 
whom  you  have  most  intimately  conversed,  and  call 
to  mind  the  mercies  you  have  received  in  those  pla- 
ces, and  from  those  persons,  as  the  instruments  of 
33* 


390  GRATEFUL    JOY    IN    GOD. 

the  divine  care  and  goodness.  Recollect  the  difficul- 
ties and  dangers  with  which  you  have  been  sur- 
rounded, and  reflect  attentively  on  what  God  hath 
done  to  defend  you  from  them,  or  to  carry  you 
through  them.  Think  how  often  there  has  been 
but  a  step  between  you  and  death,  and  how  sudden- 
ly God  has  sometimes  interposed  to  set  you  in  safety, 
even  before  you  apprehended  your  danger.  Think 
of  those  chambers  of  illness  in  which  you  have  been 
confined  ;  and  from  whence,  perhaps,  you  once 
thought  you  should  go  forth  no  more  ;  but  said,  with 
Hezekiah,  in  the  cutting  ofTof  your  days,  "  I  shall  go 
to  the  gates  of  the  grave  :  I  am  deprived  of  the  residue 
of  my  years."  Isaiah,  38  :  10.  God  has,  it  may  be, 
since  that  time,  added  many  years  to  your  life ;  and 
you  know  not  how  many  are  in  reserve,  or  how  much 
usefulness 'and  happiness  may  attend  each.  Survey 
your  circumstances  in  relative  life;  how  many  kind 
friends  are  surrounding  you  daily,  and  studying  how 
they  may  contribute  to  your  comfort.  Reflect  on 
those  remarkable  circumstances  in  Providence, 
which  occasioned  the  knitting  of  some  bonds  of  this 
kind,  which,  next  to  those  which  join  your  soul  to 
God,  you  number  among  the  happiest.  And  forget 
not  in  how  many  instances,  when  these  dear  lives 
have  been  threatened,  lives  perhaps  more  sensibly 
dear  than  your  own.  God  has  given  them  back  from 
the  borders  of  the  grave,  and  so  added  new  endear- 
ments, arising  from  that  tender  circumstance,  to  all 


GRATEFUL    JOY    IN    GOD.  391 

your  after  converse  with  them.  Nor  forget,  in  how 
gracious  a  manner  he  hath  supported  some  others  in 
their  last  moments,  and  enabled  them  to  leave  be- 
hind a  sweet  odor  of  piety,  which  hath  embalmed 
their  memories,  revived  you  when  ready  to  faint  un- 
der the  sorrows  of  the  last  separation,  and,  on  the 
whole,  made  even  the  recollection  of  their  death  de- 
lightful. 

4.  But  it  is  more  than  time  that  I  lead  on  your 
thoughts  to  the  many  spiritual  mercies  which  God 
has  bestowed  upon  you.  Look  back,  as  it  were,  to 
"the  rock  from  whence  you  were  hewn,  and  to  the 
hole  of  the  pit  from  whence  you  were  digged." 
Isaiah,  1  :  1.  Reflect  seriously  on  the  state  wherein 
divine  grace  found  you :  under  how  much  guilt,  un- 
der how  much  pollution!  in  what  danger,  in  what 
ruin  !  Think  what  was,  and  O  think  with  yet  deep- 
er reflection,  what  would  have  been  the  case  !  The 
eye  of  God,  which  penetrates  into  eternity,  saw  what 
your  mind,  amused  with  the  trifles  of  the  present 
time  and  sensual  gratification,  was  utterly  ignorant 
and  regardless  of:  it  saw  you  on  the  borders  of  eter- 
nity, and  pitied  you;  saw  that  you  would  in  a  little 
time  have  been  such  a  helpless,  wretched  creature  as 
the  sinner  that  is  just  now  dead,  and  has,  to  his  infi- 
nite surprise  and  everlasting  terror,  met  his  unex- 
pected doom;  and  would,  like  him,  stand  thunder- 
struck in  astonishment  and  despair.  This  God  saw, 
and  he  pitied  you ;    and  being  merciful  to  you,  he 


392  GRATEFUL    JOY    IN    GOD. 

provided,  in  the  counsel  of  his  eternal  love  and  grace, 
a  Redeemer  for  you,  and  purchased  you  to  himself, 
through  the  blood  of  his  Son  :  a  price  which,  if  you 
will  pause  upon  it,  and  think  seriously  what  it  was, 
must  surely  affect  you  to  such  a  degree  as  to  make 
you  to  fall  down  before  God  in  wonder  and  shame, 
to  think  it  should  ever  have  been  given  for  you.  To 
accomplish  these  blessed  purposes,  he  sent  his  grace 
into  your  heart:  so  that,  though  "you  were  once 
darkness,  you  are  now  light  in  the  Lord."  Eph. 
5  :  8.  He  made  that  happy  change  which  you  now 
feel  in  your  soul,  and  "  by  his  Holy  Spirit,  which  is 
given  to  you,"  he  shed  abroad  that  principle  of  love 
(Rom.  5  :  5,)  which  is  enkindled  by  this  review, 
and  now  flames  with  greater  ardor  than  before. 
Thus  far  he  hath  supported  you  in  your  Christian 
course,  and  "having  obtained  help,  from  him,"  it  is 
that  you  continue  even  to  this  day.  Acts,  26:  22. 
He  hath  not  only  blessed  you,  but  ''  made  you  a  bless- 
ing ;  (Gen.  12  :  2.)  and  though  you  have  not  been 
so  useful  as  that  holy  generosity  of  heart  which  he 
has  excited  would  have  engaged  you  to  desire,  yet 
some  good  you  have  done  in  the  station  in  which  he 
has  fixed  you.  Some  of  your  brethren  of  mankind 
have  been  relieved;  perhaps,  too,  some  thoughtless 
creature  reclaimed  to  virtue  and  happiness  by  his 
blessing  on  your  endeavors.  Some  in  the  way  to 
heaven  are  praising  God  for  you  ;  and  some,  per- 
haps, already  there,  are  longing  for  your  arrival, 


GRATEFUL    JOY    IN    GOD.  393 

that  they  may  thank  you,  in  nobler  and  more  expres- 
sive forms,  for  benefits,  the  importance  of  which  they 
now  sufficiently  understand,  though  while  here,  they 
could  never  conceive  it. 

5.  Christian,  look  around  on  the  numberless  bless- 
ings, of  one  kind  and  of  another,  with  which  you 
are  already  encompassed  ;  and  advance  your  pros- 
pect still  farther,  to  what  faith  yet  discovers  within  the 
veil.  Think  of  those  now  unknown  transports  with 
which  thou  shalt  drop  every  burden  in  the  grave ; 
and  thine  immortal  spirit  shall  mount,  light  and  joy- 
ful, holy  and  happy,  to  God,  its  original,  its  support, 
and  its  hope;  to  God,  the  source  of. being,  of  holiness, 
and  of  pleasure ;  to  Jesus,  through'  whom  all  these 
blessings  are  derived  to  thee,  and  who  will  appoint 
thee  a  throne  near  to  his  own,  to  be  for  ever  a  spec- 
tator and  partaker  of  his  glory.  Think  of  the  rap- 
ture with  which  thou  shalt  attend  his  triumph  in  the 
resurrection-day,  and  receive  this  poor,  moldering, 
corruptible  body,  transformed  into  his  glorious  im- 
age ;  and  then  think,  "  These  hopes  are  not  mine 
alone,  but  the  hopes  of  thousands  and  millions.  Mul- 
titudes, whom  I  number  among  the  dearest  of  my 
friends  upon  the  earth,  are  rejoicing1  with  me  in 
these  apprehensions  and  views  ;  and  God  gives  me 
sometimes  to  see  the  smiles  on  their  cheeks,  the 
sweet,  humble  hope  that  sparkles  in  their  eyes  and 
shines  through  the  tears  of  tender  gratitude,  and  to 
hear  that  little  of  their  inward  complacency  and  joy 


394  GRATEFUL    JOY    IN    GOD. 

which  language  can  express.  Yea,  and  multitudes 
more,  who  were  once  equally  dear  to  me  with  these, 
though  I  have  laid  them  in  the  grave,  and  wept 
over  the  dust,  are  living  to  God,  living  in  the  posses- 
sion of  inconceivable  delights,  and  drinking  large 
draughts  of  the  water  of  life,  which  flows  in  perpetu- 
al streams  at  his  right  hand." 

6.  O  Christian !  thou  art  still  intimately  united 
and  allied  to  them.  Death  cannot  break  a  friendship 
thus  cemented,  and  it  ought  not  to  render  thee  insen- 
sible of  the  happiness  of  those  friends  for  whose 
memory  thou  retainest  so  just  an  honor.  They 
live  to  God  as  his  servants ;  they  "  serve  him  and 
see  his  face,  (Rev.  22 :  3,  4,)  and  they  make  but  a 
small  part  of  that  glorious  assembly.  Millions, 
equally  worthy  of  thine  esteem  and  affection  with 
themselves,  inhabit  those  blissful  regions  ;  and  wilt 
thou  not  rejoice  in  their  joy?  And  wilt  thou  not 
adore  that  everlasting  spring  of  holiness  and  happi- 
ness from  whence  each  of  their  streams  is  derived  1 
Yea,  I  will  add,  while  the  blessed  angels  are  so 
kindly  regarding  us,  while  they  are  ministering  to 
thee,  O  Christian  !  and  bearing  thee  in  their  arms, 
"as  an  heir  of  salvation,"  (Heb.  1:  14,)  wilt  thou 
not  rejoice  in  their  felicity  too  ?  And  wilt  thou  not 
adore  that  God  who  gives  them  all  the  superior 
glory  of  their  more  exalted  nature,  and  gives  them 
a  heaven,  which  fills  them  with  blessedness  even 
while  they  seem  to  withdraw  from  it,  that  they  may 
attend  on  thee  % 


GRATEFUL    JOY    IN    GOD.  395 

7.  This,  and  infinitely  more  than  this  the  blessed 
God  is,  and  was,  and  shall  ever  be.     The  felicities 
of  the  blessed  spirits  that  surround  his  throne,  and 
thy  felicities,  O  Christian  !    are   immortal.     These 
heavenly  luminaries  shall  glow  with  an  undecaying 
flame,  and  thou  shalt  shine  and  burn  among  them 
when  the  sun  and  the  stars  are  gone  out.     Still  shall 
the  unchanging  Father  of  lights  pour  forth  his  beams 
upon  them ;  and  the  lustre  they  reflect  from  him, 
and  their  happiness  in  him,  shall  be  everlasting,  shall 
be  ever  growing.     Bow  down,  O  thou  child  of  God, 
thou  heir  of  glory ;  bow  down,    and  let  all  that  is 
within  thee  unite  in  one  act  of  grateful  love ;  and  let 
all  that  is  around  thee,  all  that  is  before  thee  in  the 
prospects  of  an   unbounded  eternity,  concur  to  ele- 
vate and  transport  thy  soul,  that  thou  mayest,  as  far 
as  possible,,  begin  the  work  and  blessedness  of  hea- 
ven, in  falling  down  before  the  God  of  it,  in  opening 
thine  heart  to  his  gracious  influences,  and  in  breath- 
ing out  before  him   that  incense   of  praise  which 
these  warm  beams  of  his  presence  and  love  have  so 
great  a  tendency  to  produce,  and  to  ennoble  with  a 
fragrancy  resembling  that  of  his  paradise  above. 

The  grateful,  Soul  rejoicing  in  the  Blessings,  of  Providence 
and  Grace,  and  pouring  out  itself  before  God,  in  vigorous 
and  affectionate  Exercises  of  Love  and  Praise. 

"  O  my  God,  it  is  enough  !  I  have  mused,  and  '  the 
fire    burneth !'    Psalm    39 :  3.     But   oh !    in   what 


396  GRATEFUL    JOY    IN    GOD. 

language  shall  the  flame  break  forth?  What  can  I 
say  but  this,  that  my  heart  admires  thee,  and  adores 
thee,  and  loves  thee  ?  My  little  vessel  is  as  full  as 
it  can  hold ;  and  I  would  pour  out  all  that  fullness 
before  thee,  that  it  may  grow  capable  of  receiving 
more  and  more.  Thou  art  '  my  hope  and  my  help ; 
my  glory,  and  the  lifter  up  of  my  head.'  Psalm  3  :  3. 
*  My  heart  rejoiceth  in  thy  salvation  :'  (Psalm  13:5,) 
and  when  I  set  myself  under  the  influences  of  thy 
good  Spirit  to  converse  with  thee,  a  thousand  delight- 
ful thoughts  spring  up  at  once;  a  thousand  sources 
of  pleasure  are  unsealed,  and  flow  in  upon  my  soul 
with  such  refreshment  and  joy,  that  they  seem  to 
crowd  into  every  moment  the  happiness  of  days,  and 
weeks,  and  months. 

"  I  bless  thee,  O  God,  for  this  soul  of  mine  which 
thou  hast  created ;  which  thou  hast  taught  to  say, 
and  I  hope  to  the  happiest  purpose,  '  Where  is  God 
my  Maker  !'  Job,  35:  10.  I  bless  thee  for  the  know- 
ledge with  which  thou  hast  adorned  it.  I  bless  thee 
for  that  grace  with  which  I  trust  I  may  (not  without 
humble  wonder)  say,  thou  hast  sanctified  it ;  though, 
alas !  the  celestial  plant  is  fixed  in  too  barren  a  soil, 
and  does  not  flourish  to  the  degree  I  could  wish. 

"  I  bless  thee  also  for  that  body  which  thou  hast 
given  me,  and  which  thou  preservest  as  yet  in  its 
strength  and  vigor,  not  only  capable  of  relishing  the 
entertainments  which  thou  providest  for  its  various 
senses,  but  (which  I  esteem  far  more  valuable  than 


GRATEFUL    JOY    IN     GOD.  397 

any  of  them  for  its  own  sake)  capable  of  acting  with 
some  vivacity  in  thy  service.  I  bless  thee  for  that 
ease  and  freedom  with  which  these  limbs  of  mine 
move  themselves,  and  obey  the  dictates  of  my  spirit, 
I  hope  as  guided  by  thine.  I  bless  thee  that  'the 
keepers  of  my  house  do  not  tremble,  nor  the  strong 
men  bow  themselves ;'  that  they  '  that  look  out  of 
the  windows  are  not  yet  darkened,  nor  the  daugh- 
ters of  music  brought  low.'  I  bless  thee,  O  God  of 
my  life  !  that  '  the  silver  cord  is  not  yet  loosed,  nor 
the  golden  bowl  broken;'  (Eccl.  12:  3,  4,  6,)  for  it 
is  thine  hand  that  braces  all  my  nerves,  and  thine 
infinite  skill  that  prepares  those  spirits  that  flow  in 
so  freely ;  and  when  exhausted,  recruit  so  soon  and 
so  plentifully.  I  praise  thee  for  that  royal  bounty 
with  which  thou  providest  for  the  daily  support  of 
mankind  in  general,  and  for  mine  in  particular ;  for 
the  various  tables  which  thou  spreadest  before  me, 
and  for  the  overflowing  cup  which  thou  'puttest  into 
my  hands.'  Psalm  23  :  5.  I  bless  thee  that  these 
bounties  of  thy  providence  do  not  serve,  as  it  were,  to 
upbraid  a  disabled  appetite,  and  are  not  '  like  messes 
of  meat  set  before  the  dead.'  I  bless  thee  too,  that 
I  '  eat  not  my  morsel  of  meat  alone,'  Job,  31  :  17,) 
but  share  it  with  so  many  agreeable  friends,  who  add 
the  relish  of  a  social  life  to  that  of  the  animal,  at  our 
seasons  of  common  repast.  I  thank  thee  for  so  ma- 
ny dear  relatives  at  home,  for  so  many  kind  friends 
abroad,  who  are  capable  of  serving  me  in  various 
34 


398  GRATEFUL    JOY    IN    GOD. 

instances,  and  disposed  to  make  an  obliging  use  of 
that  capacity. 

"  Nor  would  I  forget  to  acknowledge  thy  favor  in 
rendering  me  capable  of  serving  others,  and  giving 
me  in  any  instance  to  know  how  much  '  more  bless- 
ed it  is  to  give  than  to  receive.'  Acts,  20 :  35.  I 
thank  thee  for  a  heart  which  feels  the  sorrows  of  the 
necessitous,  and  a  mind  which  can  make  it  my  early 
care  and  refreshment  to  contrive,  according  to  my 
little  ability,  for  their  relief;  for  'this  also  cometh 
forth  from  thee,  0  Lord !'  (Isaiah,  28  :  29,)  the  great 
Author  of  every  benevolent  inclination,  of  every  pru- 
dent scheme,  of  every  successful  attempt  to  spread 
happiness  around  us,  or  in  any  instance  to  lessen 
distress. 

"  And  surely,  O  Lord,  if  I  thus  acknowledge  the 
pleasures  of  sympathy  with  the  afflicted,  much  more 
must  I  bless  thee  for  those  of  sympathy  with  the  hap- 
py, with  those  that  are  completely  blessed.  I  adore 
thee  for  the  streams  that  water  Paradise,  and  main- 
tain it  in  ever-flourishing,  ever-growing  delight.  I 
praise  thee  for  the  rest,  the  joy,  the  transport,  thou 
art  giving  to  many  that  were  once  dear  to  me  on 
earth,  whose  sorrows  it  was  my  labor  to  soothe,  and 
whose  joys,  especially  in  thee,  it  was  the  delight  of 
my  heart  to  promote.  I  praise  thee  for  the  blessed- 
ness of  every  saint,  and  of  every  angel  that  sur- 
rounds thy  throne  above ;  and  I  praise  thee,  with 
accents  of  distinguished  pleasure,  for  that  reviving 


GRATEFUL    JOY    IN    GOD.  399 

nope  which  thou  hast  implanted  in  my  bosom,  that 
I  shall,  ere  long,  know,  by  clear  sight,  and  by  ever- 
lasting experience,  Avhat  that  felicity  of  theirs  is 
which  I  now  only  discover  at  a  distance,  through 
the  comparatively  obscure  glass  of  faith.  Even  now, 
through  thy  grace,  do  I  feel  myself  borne  forward 
by  thy  supporting  arm  to  those  regions  of  blessed- 
ness. Even  now  am  I  '  waiting  for  thy  salvation,' 
(Gen.  49:  18,)  with  that  ardent  desire,  on  the  one 
hand,  which  its  sublime  greatness  cannot  but  inspire 
into  the  believing  soul,  and  that  calm  resignation  on 
the  other,  which  the  immutability  of  thy  promise 
establishes. 

"  And  now,  O  my  God,  what  shall  I  say  unto 
thee  ?  what,  but  that  I  love  thee  above  all  the  pow- 
ers of  language  to  express !  That  I  love  thee  for  what 
thou  art  to  thy  creatures,  who  are,  in  their  various 
forms,  every  moment  deriving  being,  knowledge 
and  happiness  from  thee,  in  numbers  and  degrees 
far  beyond  what  my  narrow  imagination  can  con- 
ceive. But,  oh  !  I  adore  and  love  thee  yet  far  more 
for  what  thou  art  in  thyself;  for  those  stores  of  per- 
fection which  creation  has  not  diminished,  and  which 
can  never  be  exhausted  by  all  the  effects  of  it  which 
thou  impartest  to  thy  creatures  ;  that  infinite  perfec- 
tion which  makes  thee  thine  own  happiness,  thine 
own  end;  amiable,  infinitely  amiable  and  venerable, 
were  all  derived  excellence  and  happines  forgot. 

"  O  thou  first,  thou  greatest,  thou  fairest  of  all  ob- 


400  GRATEFUL    JOY    IN    GOD. 

jects !  thou  only  great,  thou  only  fair,  possess  all  my 
soul !  And  surely  thou  dost  possess  it.  While  I 
thus  feel  thy  sacred  Spirit  breathing  on  my  heart,  and 
exciting  these  fervors  of  love  to  thee,  I  cannot  doubt 
it  any  more  than  I  can  doubt  the  reality  of  this  ani- 
mal life,  while  I  exert  the  actings  of  it,  and  feel  its 
sensations.  Surely,  if  ever  I  knew  the  appetite  of 
hunger,  my  soul  ■  hungers  after  righteousness,' 
(Matt.  5:6,)  and  longs  for  a  greater  conformity  to 
thy  blessed  nature  and  holy  will.  If  ever  my  palate 
felt  thirst,  '  my  soul  thirsteth  for  God,  even  for  the 
living  God,'  (Psalm  42:  2,)  and  panteth  for  the 
more  abundant  communication  of  his  favor.  If  ever 
this  body,  when  wearied  with  labor  or  journies,  knew 
what  it  was  to  wish  for  the  refreshment  of  my  bed, 
and  rejoice  to  rest  there,  my  soul,  with  sweet  acqui- 
escence, rests  upon  thy  gracious  bosom,  O  my  hea- 
venly Father,  and  returns  to  its  repose  in  the  em- 
braces of  its  God,  '  who  hath  dealt  so  bountifully 
with  it.'  Psalm  116  :  7.  And  if  ever  I  saw  the  face 
of  a  beloved  friend  with  complacency  and  joy,  I  re- 
joice in  beholding  thy  face,  O  Lord,  and  in  calling 
thee  my  Father  in  Christ.  Such  thou  art,  and  such 
thou  wilt  be,  for  time  and  for  eternity.  What  have  I 
more  to  do,  but  to  commit  myself  to  thee  for  both  ? 
Leaving  it  to  thee  to  ■  choose  my  inheritance,'  and 
to  order  my  affairs  for  me,  (Psalm  47 :  4,)  while 
all  my  business  is  to  serve  thee,  and  all  my  delight  to 
praise  thee.     '  My  soul  follows  hard  after  God,'  be- 


ACTIVE    BENEVOLENCE.  401 

cause  '  his  right  hand  upholds  me.'  Psalm  63 :  8. 
Let  it  still  bear  me  up,  and  I  shall  press  on  towara 
thee,  till  all  my  desires  be  accomplished  in  the  eter- 
nal enjoyment  of  thee  !    Amen  ' 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 


THE  ESTABLISHED  CHRISTIAN  URGED  TO  EXERT  HIMSELF  FOR  PUR- 
POSES OF  USEFULNESS. 

1,  2.  A  sincere  love  to  God  will  express  itself  not  only  in  devo- 
tion, but  in  benevolence  to  men. — 3.  This  is  the  command  of 
God. — 4.  The  true  Christian  feels  his  soul  wrought  to  a  holy 
conformity  to  it. — 5.  And  therefore  will  desire  instruction  en 
this  head. — 6.  Accordingly,  directions  are  given  for  the  im- 
provement of  various  talents:  particularly  genius  and  learn- 
ing.— 7.  Power. — 8.  Domestic  authority. — 9.  Esteem. — 10. 
Riches. — 1 1 .  Several  good  ways  of  employing  them  hinted  at. 
— 12,  13.  Prudence  in  expense  urged,  for  the  support  of  cha- 
rity.— 14.  Divine  direction  in  this  respect  to  be  sought.  The 
Christian  breathing  after  more  extensive  usefulness. 

1.  Such  as  I  have  described  in  the  former  chap- 
ter, I  trust,  are  and  will  be  the  frequent  exercises  of 
your  soul  before  God.  Thus  will  your  love  and 
gratitude  breathe  itself  forth  in  the  divine  presence, 
and  will,  through  Jesus  the  great  Mediator,  come  up 
34* 


402  ACTIVE    BENEVOLENCE. 

before  it  as  incense,  and  yield  an  acceptable  savor. 
But  then,  you  must  remember,  this  will  not  be  the 
only  effect  of  that  love  to  God  which  I  have  supposed 
so  warm  in  your  heart.  If  it  be  sincere,  it  will  not 
spend  itself  in  words  alone,  but  will  discover  itself  in 
actions,  and  will  produce,  as  its  genuine  fruit,  an  un- 
feigned love  to  your  fellow-creatures,  and  an  unwea- 
ried desire  and  labor  to  do  them  good  continually. 

2.  "  Has  the  great  Father  of  mercies,"  will  you 
say,  "  looked  upon  me  with  so  gracious  an  eye  ?  has 
he  not  only  forgiven  me  ten  thousand  offences,  but 
enriched  me  with  such  a  variety  of  benefits  ?  0  what 
shall  I  render  to  him  for  them  all  %  Instruct  me,  O 
ye  oracles  of  eternal  truth !  Instruct  me,  ye  elder 
brethren  in  the  family  of  my  heavenly  Father !  In- 
struct me,  above  all,  O  thou  Spirit  of  wisdom  and 
love  !  what  I  may  be  able  to  do,  to  express  my  love 
to  the  great  eternal  fountain  of  love,  and  to  approve 
my  fidelity  to  him  who  has  already  done  so  much  to 
engage  it,  and  who  will  take  so  much  pleasure  in 
owning  and  rewarding  it!" 

3.  This,  O  Christian  !  is  the  command  which  we 
have  heard  from  the  beginning,  and  it  will  ever  con- 
tinue in  unimpaired  force,  "  that  he  who  loveth  God," 
should  "love  his  brother  also,"  (1  John,  4:21,) 
and  should  express  that  love,  "  not  in  word  and  pro- 
fession alone,  but  in  deed  and  in  truth."  1  John,  3 : 
18.  You  are  to  love  your  neighbor  as  yourself;  to 
love  the  whole  creation  of  God  ;  and,  so  far  as  your 
influence  can  extend,  must  endeavor  to  make  it  happy. 


ACTIVE    BENEVOLENCE.  403 

4.  "  Yes,"  will  you  not  say,  and  "  I  do  love  it.  I 
feel  the  golden  chain  of  divine  love  encircling  us  all, 
and  binding  us  close  to  each  other,  joining  us  in  one 
body,  and  diffusing,  as  it  were,  one  soul  through  all. 
May  happiness,  true  and  sublime,  perpetual  and 
ever-growing  happiness,  reign  through  the  whole 
world  of  God's  rational  and  obedient  creatures  in 
heaven  and  on  earth !  And  may  every  revolted 
creature,  that  is  capable  of  being  recovered  and  re- 
stored, be  made  obedient!  Yea,  may  the  necessary 
punishment  of  those  who  are  irrecoverable,  be  over- 
ruled by  infinite  wisdom  and  love  to  the  good  of  the 
whole!" 

5.  These  are  right  sentiments,  and  if  they  are  in- 
deed the  sentiments  of  your  heart,  O  reader  !  and 
not  an  empty  form  of  vain  words,  they  will  be  at- 
tended with  a  serious  concern  to  act  in  subordination 
to  this  great  scheme  of  divine  Providence,  according 
to  your  abilities  in  their  utmost  extent.  And  to  this 
purpose,  they  will  put  you  on  surveying  the  peculiar 
circumstances  of  your  life  and  being,  that  you  may 
discover  what  opportunities  of  usefulness  they  now 
afford,  and  how  those  opportunities  and  capacities 
may  be  improved.  Enter  therefore  into  such  a  sur- 
vey, not  that  you  may  pride  yourself  in  the  distinc- 
tions of  divine  Providence  or  grace  towards  you,  or, 
"  having  received,  may  glory  as  if  you  had  not  re- 
ceived ;"  (1  Cor.  4  :  7,)  but  that  you  may  deal  faith- 
fully with  the  great  Proprietor,  whose  steward  you 


404  ACTIVE    BENEVOLENCE. 

are,  and  by  whom  you  are  entrusted  with  eveiy  tal- 
ent, which,  with  respect  to  any  claim  from  your 
fellow-creatures,  you  may  call  your  own.  And  here, 
"  having  gifts  differing  according  to  the  grace  that  is 
given  to  us,"  (Rom.  12  :  6.)  let  us  hold  the  balance 
with  an  impartial  hand,  that  so  we  may  determine 
what  it  is  that  God  requires  of  us ;  which  is  nothing 
less  than  doing  the  most  we  can  invent,  contrive,  and 
effect,  for  the  general  good.  But,  oh  !  how  seldom 
is  this  estimate  faithfully  made !  And  how  much 
does  the  world  around  us,  and  how  much  do  our  own 
souls  suffer  for  want  of  that  fidelity ! 

6.  Hath  God  given  you  genius  and  learning?  It 
was  not  that  you  might  amuse  or  deck  yourself  with 
it,  and  kindle  a  blaze  which  should  only  serve  to 
attract  and  dazzle  the  eyes  of  men.  It  was  intended 
to  be  the  means  of  leading  both  yourself  and  them 
to  the  Father  of  lights.  And  it  will  be  your  duty, 
according  to  the  peculiar  turn  of  that  genius  and 
capacity,  either  to  endeavor  to  improve  and  adorn 
human  life,  or,  by  a  more  direct  application  of  it  to 
divine  subjects,  to  plead  the  cause  of  religion,  to  de- 
fend its  truths,  to  enforce  and  recommend  its  prac- 
tice, to  deter  men  from  courses  which  would  be  dis- 
honorable to  God  and  fatal  to  themselves,  and  to  try 
the  utmost  efforts  of  all  the  solemnity  and  tenderness 
with  which  you  can  clothe  your  addresses,  to  lead 
them  into  the  paths  of  virtue  and  happiness. 

7.  Has  God  invested  you  with  power,  whether  it 


ACTIVE    BENEVOLENCE.  405 

be  in  a  larger  or  smaller  society?  Remember  that 
this  power  was  given  you  that  God  might  be  ho- 
nored, and  those  placed  under  your  government, 
whether  domestic  or  public,  might  be  made  happy. 
Be  concerned,  therefore,  that,  whether  you  be  en- 
trusted with  the  rod,  or  the  sword,  it  may  "  not  be 
borne  in  vain."  Rom  13  :  4.  Are  you  a  magis- 
trate ?  Have  you  any  share  in  the  great  and  tre- 
mendous charge  of  enacting  laws?  Reverence  the 
authority  of  the  supreme  Legislator,  the  great  Guar- 
dian of  society :  promote  none,  consent  to  none, 
which  you  do  not  in  your  own  conscience  esteem, 
in  present  circumstances,  an  intimation  of  his  will, 
and  in  the  establishment  of  which  you  do  not  firmly 
believe  you  shall  be  "  his  minister  for  good."  Rom. 
13:  4.  Have  you  the  charge  of  executing  laws? 
Put  life  into  them  by  a  vigorous  and  strenuous  exe- 
cution, according  to  the  nature  of  the  particular  office 
you  bear.  Retain  not  an  empty  name  of  authority. 
Permit  not  yourself,  as  it  were,  to  fall  asleep  on  the 
tribunal.  Be  active,  be  wakeful,  be  observant  of 
what  passes  around  you.  Protect  the  upright  and 
the  innocent.  Break  in  pieces  the  power  of  the  op- 
pressor. Unveil  every  dishonest  heart.  Disgrace 
as  well  as  defeat  the  wretch  that  makes  his  distin- 
guished abilities  the  disguise  or  protection  of  the 
wickedness  which  he  ought  rather  to  endeavor  to 
expose,  and  to  drive  out  of  the  world  with  abhor- 
rence. 


406  ACTIVE    BENEVOLENCE. 

8.  Are  you  placed  only  at  the  head  of  a  private 
family  ?    Rule  it  for  God.  Administer  the  concerns 
of  that  little  kingdom  with  the  same  views,  and  on 
the  same  principles,  which  I  have  been  inculcating 
on  the  powerful  and  the  great,  if,  by  any  unexpected; 
accident,  any  of  them  should  suffer  their  eyes  to 
glance  upon  the  passage  above.     Your  children  and 
servants  are  your  natural  subjects.     Let  good  order 
be  established  among  them,  and  keep  them  under  a 
regular  discipline.     Let  them  be  instructed  in  the 
principles   of  religion,  that  they  may  know  how 
reasonable  such  a  discipline  is  ;  and  let  them  be  ac- 
customed to  act  accordingly.    You  cannot  indeed 
change  their  hearts,  but  you  may  very  much  influ- 
ence their  conduct,  and  by  that  means  may  preserve 
them  from  many  snares,  may  do  a  great  deal  to 
make  them  good  members  of  society,  and  may  set 
them,  as  it   were,  "in  the   way  of  God's  steps," 
(Psalm  85  :  13,)    if  peradventure   passing   by   he- 
may  bless  them  with  the  riches  of  his  grace.     Andi 
fail  not  to  do  your  utmost  to  convince  them  of  their  i 
need  of  those  blessings  ;  labor  to  engage  them  to  ap 
high  esteem  of  them,  and  to  an  earnest  desire  of 
them,  as  incomparably  more  valuable  than  any  thing 
else. 

9.  Again,  has  God  been  pleased  to  raise  you  to 
esteem  among  your  fellow-creatures,  which  is  not 
always  in  proportion  to  a  man's  rank  or  possession 
in  human  life?     Are  your  counsels  heard  with  at- 


ACTIVE    BENEVOLENCE.  407 

tention?  Is  your  company  sought?  Does  God 
give  you  good  acceptance  in  the  eyes  of  men,  so 
that  they  do  not  only  put  the  fairest  constructions  on 
your  words,  but  overlook  faults  of  which  you  are 
conscious  to  yourself,  and  consider  your  actions  and 
performances  in  the  most  indulgent  and  favorable 
light?  You  ought  to  regard  this,  not  only  as  a 
favor  of  Providence,  and  as  an  encouragement  to 
you  cheerfully  to  pursue  your  duty,  in  the  several 
branches  of  it,  for  the  time  to  come,  but  also,  as  giv- 
ing you  much  greater  opportunities  of  usefulness 
than  in  your  present  station  you  could  otherwise 
have  had.  If  your  character  has  any  weight  in  the 
world,  throw  it  into  the  right  scale.  Endeavor  to 
keep  virtue  and  goodness  in  countenance.  Affec- 
tionately give  your  hand  to  modest  worth,  where  it 
seems  to  be  depressed  or  overlooked  ;  though  shin- 
ing, when  viewed  in  its  proper  light,  with  a  lustre 
which  you  may  think  much  superior  to  your  own. 
Be  an  advocate  for  truth  ;  be  a  counsellor  for  peace; 
be  an  example  of  candor ;  and  do  ail  you  can  to 
reconcile  the  hearts  of  men,  especially  of  good  men, 
to  each  other,  however  they  may  differ  in  their  opin- 
ions about  matters  which  it  is  impossible  for  good 
men  to  dispute.  And  let  the  caution  and  humility 
of  your  behavior,  in  circumstances  of  such  superior 
eminence,  and  amidst  so  many  tokens  of  general  es- 
teem, silently  reprove  the  rashness  and  haughtiness 
of  those  who  perhaps  are  remarkable  for  little  else ; 


403  ACTIVE    BENEVOLENCE. 

or  who,  if  their  abilities  were  indeed  considerable, 
must  be  despised,  and  whose  talents  must  be  in  a 
great  measure  lost  to  the  public,  till  that  rashness 
and  haughtiness  of  spirit  be  subdued.  Nor  suffer 
yourself  to  be  interrupted  in  this  generous  and  wor- 
thy course,  by  the  little  attacks  of  envy  and  calumny 
which  you  may  meet.  Be  still  attentive  to  the  gen- 
eral good,  and  steadily  resolute  in  your  efforts  to 
promote  it ;  and  leave  it  to  Providence  to  guard  or 
to  rescue  your  character  from  the  base  assaults  of 
malice  and  falsehood,  which  will  often,  without  your 
labor,  confute  themselves,  and  heap  upon  the  authors 
greater  shame,  or  (if  they  are  inaccessible  to  that) 
greater  infamy,  than  your  humanity  will  allow  you 
to  wish  them. 

10.  Once  more,  Has  God  blessed  you  with  rich- 
es ?  Has  he  placed  you  in  such  circumstances  that 
you  have  more  than  you  absolutely  need  for  the 
subsistence  of  yourself  and  your  family?  Remember 
your  approaching  account.  Remember  what  an 
incumbrance  these  things  often  prove  to  men  in  the 
way  of  their  salvation,  and  how  often,  according  to 
our  Lord's  express  declaration,  they  render  it  "  as 
difficult  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  it  is  for 
a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle."  Matth. 
19  :  24.  Let  it  therefore  be  your  immediate,  your 
earnest,  and  your  daily  prayer,  that  riches  may  not 
be  a  snare  and  a  shame  to  you,  as  they  are  to  by  far 
the  greater  part  of  their  possessors.     Appropriate,  I 


ACTIVE    BENEVOLENCE.  409 

beseech  you,  some  certain  part  and  proportion  of 
your  estate  and  revenue  to  charitable  uses ;  with  a 
provisional  increase,  as  God  shall  prosper  you  in 
any  extraordinary  instance.     By  this  means  you  will 
,  always  have  a  fund  of  charity  at  hand  ;  and  you  will 
probably  be  more  ready  to  communicate,  when  you 
look  upon  what  is  so  deposited  as  not  in  any  sense 
your  own,   but  as  already  actually  given  away  to 
those  uses,  though  not  yet  affixed  to  particular  ob- 
jects.    It  is  not  for  me  to  say  what  that  proportion 
ought  to  be.     To  those  who  have  large  revenues, 
and  no  children,  perhaps  a  third  or  one  half  may  be 
too  little ;  to  those  whose  incomes  are  small,  and 
their  charge  considerable,  though  they  have  some- 
thing more  than  is  absolutely  necessary,  it  is  possi- 
ble a  tenth  may  be  too  much.     But  pray  that  God 
would  guide  your  mind;  make  a  trial  for  one  year, 
on  such  terms  as  in  your  conscience  you  think  will 
be  most  pleasing  to  him  ;  and  let  your  observations 
on  that  teach  you  to  fix  your  proportion  for  the  next : 
always  remembering,  that  he  requires  justice  in  the 
first  place,  and  alms-deeds  only  so  far  as  may  consist 
with  that.    Yet,  at  the  same  time,  take  heed  of  that 
treacherous,  delusive,  and,  in  many  instances,  de- 
structive imagination,   "that  justice   to  your  own 
family  requires  that  you  should  leave  your  children 
very  rich ;  which  has  perhaps  cost  some  parsimo- 
nious parents  the  lives  of  those  darlings  for  whom 
they  laid  up  the  portion  of  the  poor;  and  what  fatal 


410  ACTIVE    BENEVOLENCE. 

consequences  of  divine  displeasure  may  attend  it  to 
those  that  yet  survive,  God  only  knows;  and  I  heart- 
ily pray  that  you  or  yours  may  never  learn  by  expe- 
rience. 

11.  And  that  your  heart  may  be  yet  more  opened,  t 
and  that  your  charity  may  be  directed  to  the  best  pur- 
poses, let  me  briefly  mention  a  variety  of  good  uses 
which  may  call  for  the  consideration  of  those  whom 
God  has  in  this  respect  distinguished  by  an  ability  to 
do  good.  To  assist  the  hints  I  am  to  offer,  look 
round  on  the  neighborhood  in  which  you  live. 
Think  how  many  honest  and  industrious,  perhaps  too, 
I  might  add,  religious  people,  are  making  very  hard 
shifts  to  struggle  through  life.  Think  what  a  com- 
fort that  would  be  to  them,  which  you  might  without 
any  inconvenience  spare  from  that  abundance  which 
God  hath  given  you.  Hearken  also  to  any  extraor- 
dinary calls  of  charity  which  may  happen,  especially 
those  of  a  public  nature,  and  help  them  forward  with 
your  example,  and  your  interest  in  them,  which  per- 
haps may  be  of  much  greater  importance  than  the 
sum  which  you  contribute,  considered  in  itself.  Have 
a  tongue  to  plead  for  the  necessitous,  as  well  as  a 
hand  to  relieve  them ;  and  endeavor  to  discounte- 
nance those  poor,  shameful  excuses,  which  covetous- 
ness  often  dictates  to  those  whose  art  may  indeed 
set  some  varnish  on  what  they  suggest,  but  so  slight 
a  one,  that  the  coarse  ground  will  appear  through  it. 
See  how  many  poor  children  are  wandering  naked 


ACTIVE    BENEVOLENCE.  411 

and  ignorant  about  the  streets,  and  in  the  way  to  all 
kinds  of  vice  and  misery ;  and  consider  what  can  be 
done  toward  clothing  some  of  them  at  least,  and  in- 
structing them  in  the  principles  of  religion.  Would 
every  thriving  family  in  a  town,  who  are  able  to 
afford  help  on  such  occasions,  cast  a  pitying  eye  on 
one  poor  family  in  its  neighborhood,  and  take  it  un- 
der their  patronage,  to  assist  in  feeding,  and  clothing, 
and  teaching  the  children,  in  supporting  it  in  afflic- 
tion, in  defending  it  from  wrongs,  and  in  advising 
those  that  have  the  management  of  it,  as  circumstan- 
ces might  require,  how  great  a  difference  would  soon 
be  produced  in  the  character  and  circumstances  of 
the  community !  Observe  who  are  sick,  that,  if  there 
be  no  public  infirmary  at  hand  to  which  you  can  in- 
troduce them,  (where  your  contribution  will  yield 
the  largest  increase,)  you  may  do  something  towards 
relieving  them  at  home,  and  supplying  them  with  ad- 
vice and  medicines,  as  well  as  with  proper  diet  and 
attendance.  Consider  also  the  spiritual  necessities  of 
men  :  in  providing  for  which,  I  would  particularly 
recommend  to  you  the  very  important  and  noble  cha- 
rity of  assisting  young  persons  of  genius  and  piety 
with  what  is  necessary  to  support  the  expense  of  their 
education  for  the  ministry,  in  the  proper  course  of 
grammatical  or  academical  studies.  And  grudge 
not  some  proportion  of  what  God  hath  given  you,  to 
those  who,  resigning  all  temporal  views  to  minister 
to  you  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  have  surely  an  equitable 


412  ACTIVE    BENEVOLENCE. 

claim  to  be  supported  by  you,  in  a  capacity  of  render- 
ing- you  those  services,  however  laborious,  to  which, 
for  your  sakes,  and  that  of  our  common  Lord,  they 
have  devoted  their  lives.  And  while  you  are  so 
abundantly  "satisfied  with  the  goodness  of  God's 
house,  even  of  his  own  temple,"  (Psalm  65  :  4,) 
have  compassion  on  those  who  dwell  in  a  desert  land ; 
and  rejoice  to  do  something-  toward  sending  among 
the  distant  nations  of  the  heathen  world,  that  glorious 
Gospel  which  hath  so  long  continued  unknown  to 
multitudes,  though  the  knowledge  of  it,  with  becom- 
ing regard,  be  life  everlasting.  These  are  a  few  im- 
portant charities  which  I  would  point  out  to  those 
whom  Providence  has  enriched  with  its  peculiar 
bounties  ;  and  it  renders  gold  more  precious  than  it 
could  appear  in  any  other  light,  that  it  is  capable  of 
being  employed  for  such  purposes.  But  if  you  should 
not  have  gold  to  spare  for  them,  contribute  your  sil- 
ver ;  or,  as  a  farthing  or  a  mite  is  not  overlooked  by 
God,  when  it  is  given  from  a  truly  generous  and 
charitable  heart,  (Mark,  12:  42,  43,)  let  that  be  cheer- 
fully dropped  into  the  treasury,  where  richer  offer- 
ings cannot  be  afforded. 

12.  And  that,  amidst  so  many  pressing  demands 
for  charity,  you  may  be  better  furnished  to  answer 
them,  seriously  reflect  on  your  manner  of  living.  I 
say  not  that  God  requires  you  should  become  one  of 
the  many  poor  relieved  out  of  your  income.  The  sup- 
port of  society,  as  at  present  established,  will  not 


ACTIVE    BENEVOLENCE.  413 

only  permit,  but  require,  that  some  persons  should 
allow  themselves  in  the  elegancies  and  delights  of 
life;  by  furnishing  which,  multitudes  of  poor  fami- 
lies are  much  more  creditably  and  comfortably  sub- 
sisted, with  greater  advantage  to  themselves  and 
safety  to  the  public,  than  they  could  be,  if  the  price 
of  their  labors,  or  of  the  commodities  in  which  they 
deal,  were  to  be  given  them  as  alms ;  nor  can  I  im- 
agine it  grateful  to  God,  that  his  gifts  should  be 
refused,  as  if  they  were  meant  for  snares  and  curses 
rather  than  benefits.  This  were  to  frustrate  the  be- 
nevolent purposes  of  the  gracious  Father  of  mankind, 
and  if  carried  to  its  rigor,  would  be  a  sort  of  conspi- 
racy against  the  whole  system  of  nature.  Let  the 
bounties  of  Providence  be  used ;  but  let  us  carefully 
see  to  it,  that  it  be  in  a  moderate  and  prudent  man- 
ner, lest,  by  our  own  folly,  "that  which  should  have 
been  for  our  welfare  become  a  trap."  Psalm  69  :  22. 
Let  conscience  say,  my  dear  reader,  with  regard  to 
yourself,  what  proportion  of  the  good  things  you  pos- 
sess your  Heavenly  Father  intends  for  yourself,  and 
what  for  your  brethren;  and  live  not  as  if  you  had 
no  brethren — as  if  pleasing  yourself  in  all  the  mag- 
nificence and  luxury  you  can  devise,  were  the  end 
for  which  you  were  sent  into  the  world.  I  fear  this 
is  the  excess  of  the  present  age,  and  not  an  excess  of 
rigor  and  mortification.  Examine,  therefore,  your 
expenses,  and  compare  them  with  your  income.  That 
may  be  shamefully  extravagant  in  you,  which  may 


414  ACTIVE    BENEVOLENCE. 

not  only  be  pardonable,  but  commendable  in  another 
of  superior  estate.  Nor  can  you  be  sure  that  you  do 
not  exceed,  merely  because  you  do  not  plunge  your- 
self into  debt,  nor  render  yourself  incapable  of  laying 
up  any  thing  for  your  family.  If  you  be  disabled 
from  doing  any  thing  for  the  poor,  or  any  thing  pro- 
portionable to  your  rank  in  life,  by  that  genteel  and 
elegant  way  of  living  which  you  affect,  God  must 
disapprove  of  such  a  conduct ;  and  you  ought,  as  you 
will  answer  to  him,  to  retrench  it.  And  though  the 
divine  indulgence  will  undoubtedly  be  exercised  to 
.those  in  whom  there  is  a  sincere  principle  of  faith  in 
Christ,  and  undissembled  love  to  God  and  man, 
though  it  act  not  to  that  height  of  beneficence  and 
usefulness  which  might  have  been  attained  ;  yet  be 
assured  of  this,  that  he,  who  rendereth  to  every  one 
according  to  his  works,  will  have  a  strict  regard  to 
the  degrees  of  the  goodness  in  the  distribution  of  final 
rewards  :  so  that  every  neglected  opportunity  draws 
after  it  an  irreparable  loss,  which  will  go  into  eternity 
along  with  you.  And  let  me  add,  too,  that  every  in- 
stance of  negligence  indulged,  renders  the  mind  still 
more  and  more  indolent  and  weak,  and  consequently 
more  indisposed  to  recover  the  ground  which  has 
been  lost,  or  even  to  maintain  that  which  has  been 
hitherto  kept. 

13.  Complain  not  that  this  is  imposing  hard  things 
upon  you.  I  am  only  directing  your  pleasures  into 
a  nobler  channel ;  and  indeed  that  frugality,  which 


PRAYER    TO     BE    USEFUL.  415 

is  the  source  of  such  a  generosity,  far  from  being  at 
all  injurious  to  your  reputation,  will  rather,  among 
wise  and  good  men,  greatly  promote  it.  But  you 
have  far  nobler  motives  before  you  than  those  which 
arise  from  their  regards.  I  speak  to  you  as  to  a 
child  of  God,  and  a  member  of  Christ;  as  joined, 
therefore,  by  the  most  intimate  union,  to  all  the  poor- 
est of  those  that  believe  in  him.  I  speak  to  you  as  to 
an  heir  of  eternal  glory,  who  ought  therefore  to  have 
sentiments  great  and  sublime,  in  some  proportion  to 
that  expected  inheritance. 

14.  Cast  about  therefore  in  your  thoughts  what 
good  is  to  be  done,  and  what  you  can  do,  either  in 
your  own  person  or  by  your  interest  with  others ; 
and  go  about  it  with  resolution,  as  in  the  name  and 
presence  of  the  Lord.  And  as  "  the  Lord  giveth 
wisdom,  and  out  of  his  mouth  cometh  knowledge  and 
understanding,"  (Prov.  2:  6,)  go  to  the  footstool  of 
his  throne,  and  there  seek  that  guidance  and  that 
grace  which  may  suit  your  present  circumstances, 
and  maybe  effectual  to  produce  the  fruits  of  holiness 
and  usefulness,  to  his  more  abundant  glory,  and  to 
the  honor  of  your  Christian  profession. 

The  established  Christian  breathing  after  more  extensive 
Usefulness. 

"  O  bountiful  Father,  and  sovereign  Author  of  all 
good,  whether  natural  or  spiritual !  I  bless  thee  for  the 
various  talents  with  which  thou  hast  enriched  so  un- 


41G  PRAYER    TO    BE    USEFUL. 

deserving  a  creature  as  I  must  acknowledge  myself 
to  be.  My  soul  is  in  the  deepest  confusion  before 
thee,  when  I  consider  to  how  little  purpose  I  have 
hitherto  improved  them.  Alas  !  what  have  I  done, 
in  proportion  to  what  thou  mightest  reasonably  have 
expected,  with  the  gifts  of  nature  which  thou  hast 
bestowed  upon  me,  with  my  capacities  of  life,  with 
my  time,  with  my  talents,  with  my  possessions,  with 
my  influence  over  others  !  Alas  !  through  my  own 
negligence  and  folly,  I  look  back  on  a  barren  wilder- 
ness, where  I  might  have  seen  a  fruitful  field,  and  a 
springing  harvest !  Justly  do  I  indeed  deserve  to  be 
stripped  of  all,  to  be  brought  to  an  immediate  account 
for  all ;  to  be  condemned,  as  in  many  respects  un- 
faithful to  thee,  and  to  the  world,  and  to  my  own 
soul;  and,  in  consequence  of  that  condemnation,  to 
be  cast  into  the  prison  of  eternal  darkness  !  But 
thou,  Lord,  hast  freely  forgiven  the  dreadful  debt  of 
ten  thousand  talents.  Adored  be  thy  name  for  it ! 
Accept,  O  Lord,  accept  that  renewed  surrender 
which  I  would  now  make  of  myself,  and  of  all  I 
have,  unto  thy  service !  I  acknowledge  that  it  is 
'  of  thine  own  that  I  give  thee.'  1  Chron.  29  :  14. 
Make  me,  I  beseech  thee,  a  faithful  steward  for  my 
great  Lord  ;  and  may  I  think  of  no  separate  interest 
of  my  own,  in  opposition  to  thine  ! 

"  I  adore  thee,  O  thou  God  of  all  grace !  if,  while 
I  am  thus  speaking  to  thee,  I  feel  the  love  of  thy 
creatures  arising  in  my  soul ;  if  I  feel  my  heart 


PRAYER    TO    BE    USEFUL.  417 

opening  to  embrace  my  brethren  of  mankind !  O 
make  me  thy  faithful  almoner,  in  distributing  to  them 
all  that  thou  hast  lodged  in  mine  hand  for  their  relief! 
And  in  determining  what  is  my  own  share,  may  I 
hold  the  balance  with  an  equal  hand,  and  judge  im- 
partially between  myself  and  them  !  The  proportion 
thou  allowest,  may  I  thankfully  take  for  myself  and 
those  who  are  immediately  mine  !  The  rest  may  I 
distribute  with  wisdom,  and  fidelity,  and  cheerful- 
ness !  Guide  my  hand,  O  ever-merciful  Father  ! 
while  thou  dost  me  the  honor  to  make  me  thine  in- 
strument in  dealing  out  a  few  of  thy  bounties,  that  I 
may  bestow  them  where  they  are  most  needed,  and 
where  they  will  answer  the  best  end  !  And  if  it  be 
thy  gracious  will,  do  thou  '  multiply  the  seed  sown ;' 
(2  Cor.  9  :  10.)  prosper  me  in  my  wordly  affairs, 
that  I  may  have  more  to  impart  to  them  that  need  it ; 
and  thus  lead  me  on  to  the  region  of  everlasting  plen- 
ty, and  everlasting  benevolence  !  There  may  I  meet 
|  with  many  to  whom  I  have  been  ana  ffectionate 
r  benefactor  on  earth;  and  if  it  be  thy  blessed  will, 
with  many  whom  I  have  also  been  the  means  of 
conducting  into  the  path  to  that  blissful  abode ! 
There  may  they  entertain  me  in  their  habitations  of 
glory !  And  in  time  and  eternity,  do  thou,  Lord,  ac- 
cept the  praise  of  all,  through  Jesus  Christ ;  at  whose 
feet  I  would  bow ;  and  at  whose  feet,  after  the  most 
useful  course,  I  would  at  last  die,  with  as  much  hu- 
mility as  if  I  were  then  exerting  the  first  act  of  faith 


418  DEATH    WELCOMED. 

upon  him,  and  had  never  had  any  opportunity,  by 
one  tribute  of  obedience  and  gratitude  in  the  services 
of  life,  to  approve  its  sincerity !" 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

THE   CHRISTIAN   REJOICING  IN    THE   VIEWS   OP   DEATH   AND 
JUDGMENT. 

1.  Death  and  judgment  are  near:  but  the  Christian  has  reason 
to  welcome  both. — 2.  Yet  nature  recoils  from  the  solemnity 
of  them- — 3.  An  attempt  to  reconcile  the  mind  to  the  prospect 
of  death. — 4.  From  the  considerations  of  the  many  evils  that 
surround  us  in  this  mortal  life. — 5.  Of  the  remainder  of  sin 
•which  we  feel  within  us. — 6,  7.  And  of  the  happiness  which  is 
immediately  to  succeed  death. — 8.  All  which  might  make  the 
Christian  willing  to  die  in  the  most  agreeable  circumstances 
of  human  life. — 9.  The  Christian  has  reason  to  rejoice  in 
the  prospect  of  judgment.— 10.  Since,  however  awful  it  may 
be,  Christ  will  then  come  to  vindicate  his  honor,  to  display  his 
glory,  and  to  triumph  over  his  enemies. — 11.  As  also  to  com- 
plete tlie  happiness  of  every  believer. — 12,  13.  And  of  the 
whole  church. —  The  meditation  of  a  Christian  whose  heart 
is  warm  with  these  prospects. 

1.  When  the  visions  of  the  Lord  were  closing 
upon  John,  the  beloved  disciple,  in  the  island  of  Pat- 
mos,  it  is  observable  that  he  who  gave  him  that  reve- 
lation, even  Jesus,  the  faithful  and  true  witness,  con- 
cludes with  these  lively  and  important  words :   "  He 


DEATH     WELCOMED.  419 

who  testifieth  these  things  saith,  Surely  I  come 
quickly :"  and  John  answered  with  the  greatest  readi- 
ness and  pleasure — "  Amen,  even  so  come,  Lord  Je- 
sus !"  Come,  as  thou  hast  said,  surely  and  quickly. 
And  remember,  O  Christian !  whoever  you  are  that 
are  now  reading  these  words,  your  divine  Lord 
speaks  in  the  same  language  to  you — V  Behold,  I 
come  quickly."  Yes,  very  quickly  will  he  come  by 
death,  to  turn  the  key,  to  open  the  door  of  the  grave 
for  thine  admittance  thither,  and  to  lead  thee  through 
it  into  the  now  unknown  regions  of  the  invisible 
world.  Nor  is  it  long  before  "  the  Judge  who  stand- 
eth  at  the  door,"  (Jam.  5 :  9,)  will  appear  also  for 
universal  judgment:  and  though,  perhaps,  not  only 
scores,  but  hundreds  of  years  will  lie  between  that  pe- ' 
riod  and  the  present  moment,  yet  it  is  but  a  very  small 
point  of  time  to  him  who  views  at  once  all  the  immea- 
surable ages  of  a  past  and  future  eternity.  "  A  thousand 
years  are  with  him  but  as  one  day,  and  one  day  as  a 
thousand  years."  2  Pet.  3:  8.  In  both  these  senses,  then, 
does  he  come  quickly.  And  I  trust  you  can  answer, 
with  a  glad  Amen,  that  the  warning  is  not  terrible  or 
unpleasant  to  your  ears  ;  but  rather  that  his  coming, 
his  certain,  his  speedy  coming,  is  the  object  of  your 
delightful  hope,  and  of  your  longing  expectation. 

2.  I  am  sure  it  is  reasonable  it  should  be  so  ;  and  yet 
perhaps  nature,  fond  of  life,  and  unwilling  to  part  with 
a  long  known  abode,  to  enter  on  a  state  to  which  it  is 
entirely  a  stranger,  may  recoil  from  the  thoughts  of 


420  DEATH    WELCOMED. 

dying ;  or,  struck  with  the  awful  pomp  of  an  expiring 
and  dissolving  world,  may  look  on  the  judgment-day 
with  some  mixture  of  terror.  And  therefore,  my  dear 
brother  in  the  Lord,  (for  such  I  can  now  esteem  you,) 
I  would  reason  with  you  a  little  on  this  head,  and 
would  entreat  you  to  look  more  attentively  on  this  so- 
lemn subject;  which  will,  I  trust,  grow  less  disagree- 
able to  you,  as  it  is  more  familiarly  viewed.  Nay,  I 
hope  that,  instead  of  starting  back  from  it,  you  will 
rather  spring  forward  toward  it  with  joy  and  delight. 

3.  Think,  O  Christian !  when  Christ  comes  to  call 
you  away  by  death,  lie  comes — to  set  you  at  liberty 
from  your  present  sorrows — to  deliver  you  from 
your  struggles  with  remaining  corruption — and  to 
receive  you  to  dwell  with  himself  in  complete  holi- 
ness and  joy.  You  shall  "  be  absent  from  the  body, 
and  be  present  with  the  Lord."  2  Cor.  5 :  8. 

4.  He  will  indeed  call  you  away  from  this  world  ; 
but  oh  !  what  is  this  world,  that  you  should  be  fond 
of  it,  and  cling  to  it  with  so  much  eagerness  ?  How 
low  are  all  those  enjoyments  that  are  peculiar  to  it, 
and  how  many  its  vexations,  its  snares,  and  its  sor- 
rows !  Review  your  pilgrimage  thus  far ;  and  though 
you  must  acknowledge  that  "  goodness  and  mercy 
have  followed  you  all  the  days  of  your  life,"  (Psalm 
23  :  6,)  yet  has  not  that  very  mercy  itself  planted 
some  thorns  in  your  path,  and  given  you  some  wise 
and  necessary,  yet  painful  intimations,  that  u  this  is 
not  your  rest  ?"  Mic.  2:10.  Review  the  monuments 


DEATH    WELCOMED.  421 

of  your  withered  joys,  of  your  blasted  hopes,  if  there 
be  yet  any  monuments  of  them  remaining  more  than 
a  mournful  remembrance  they  have  left  behind  in 
your  afflicted  heart.  Look  upon  the  graves  that  have 
swallowed  up  many  of  your  dearest  and  most  amia- 
ble friends,  perhaps  in  the  very  bloom  of  life,  and  in 
the  greatest  intimacy  of  your  converse  with  them, 
and  reflect,  that  if  you  continue  a  few  years  more, 
death  will  renew  his  conquests  at  your  expense,  and 
devour  the  most  precious  of  those  that  yet  survive. 
View  the  living  as  well  as  the  dead :  behold  the  state 
of  human  nature  under  the  many  grievous  marks  of 
its  apostacy  from  God,  and  say,  whether  a  wise  and 
good  man  would  wish  to  continue  always  here.  Me- 
thinks,  were  I  myself  secure  from  being  reached  by 
any  of  the  arrows  that  fly  around  me,  I  could  not  but 
mourn  to  see  the  wounds  that  are  given  by  them, 
and  to  hear  the  groans  of  those  that  are  continually 
falling  under  them.  The  diseases  and  calamities  of 
mankind  are  so  many,  and  (which  is  most  grievous 
of  all)  the  distempers  of  their  minds  are  so  various, 
and  so  threatening,  that  the  world  appears  like  a  hos- 
pital ;  and  a  man  whose  heart  is  tender,  is  ready  to 
feel  his  spirits  broken  as  he  walks  through  it  and 
surveys  the  sad  scene ;  especially  when  he  sees  how 
little  he  can  do  for  the  recovery  of  those  whom  he 
pities.  Are  you  a  Christian  ?  and  does  it  not  pierce 
your  heart  to  see  how  human  nature  is  sunk  in  vice 
and  in  shame?  To  see  with  what  amazing  insolence 
r.  p.  36 


422  DEATH    WELCOMED. 

some  are  making  themselves  openly  vile,  and  how 
the  name  of  Christ  is  dishonored  by  too  many  that 
call  themselves  his  people?  To  see  the  unlawful 
deeds  and  filthy  practices  of  them  that  live  ungodly; 
and  to  behold,  at  the  same  time,  the  infirmities,  at 
least,  and  irregularities  of  those,  concerning  whom 
we  have  better  hopes?  And  do  you  not  wish  to  escape 
from  such  a  world,  where  a  righteous  and  compas- 
sionate soul  must  be  vexed  from  day  to  day  by  so 
many  spectacles  of  sin  and  misery  ?  2  Pet.  2 :  8. 

5.  Yea,  to  come  nearer  home,  do  you  not  feel 
something  within  you,  which  you  long  to  quit,  and 
which  would  embitter  even  Paradise  itself?  Some- 
thing which,  were  it  to  continue,  would  grieve  and 
distress  you  even  in  the  society  of  the  blessed  ?  Do 
you  not  feel  a  remainder  of  indwelling  sin,  the  sad 
consequence  of  the  original  revolt  of  our  nature  from 
God  ?  Are  you  not  struggling  every  day  with  some 
residue  of  corruption,  or  at  least  mourning  on  account 
of  the  weakness  of  your  graces  ?  Do  you  not  often 
find  your  spirits  dull  and  languid,  when  you  would 
desire  to  raise  them  to  the  greatest  fervor  in  the  ser- 
vice of  God  ?  Do  you  not  find  your  heart  too  often 
insensible  of  the  richest  instances  of  his  love,  and 
your  hands  feeble  in  his  service,  even  when  "  to  will 
is  present  with  you?"  Rom.  7:18.  Does  not  your 
life,  in  its  best  days  and  hours,  appear  a  low,  unpro- 
fitable thing,  when  compared  with  what  you  are  sera^ 
sible  it  ought  to  be,  and  with  what  you  wish  that  it 


DEATH    WELCOMED.  423 

were  ?  Are  you  not  frequently,  as  it  were,  "  stretch- 
ing the  pinions  of  the  mind,"  and  saying,  "  O  that  I 
had  wings  like  a  dove,  that  I  might  fly  away  and  be 
at  rest !"  Psalm  55  :  6. 

6.  Should  you  not  then  rejoice  in  the  thought,  that 
Jesus  comes  to  deliver  you  from  these  complaints? 
That  he  comes  to  answer  your  wishes,  and  to  fulfill 
the  largest  desires  of  your  hearts,  those  desires  that 
he  himself  has  inspired?-  That  he  comes  to  open 
upon  you  a  world  of  purity  and  joy;  of  active,  ex- 
alted, and  unwearied  services  ? 

7.  O  Christian  !  how  often  have  you  cast  a  long- 
ing eye  toward  those  happy  shores,  and  wished  to 
pass  the  sea,  the  boisterous,  unpleasant,  dangerous 
sea,  that  separates  you  from  them  !  When  your  Lord 
has  condescended  to  make  you  a  short  visit  in  his 
ordinances  on  earth,  how  have  you  blessed  the  time 
and  the  place,  and  pronounced  it,  amidst  many  other 
disadvantages  of  situation,  to  be  "the  very  gate  of 
heaven  !"  Gen.  28  :  17.  And  is  it  so  delightful  to 
behold  this  gate?  and  will  it  not  be  much  more  so 
to  enter  into  it  ?  Is  it  so  delightful  to  receive  the  visits 
of  Jesus  for  an  hour  ?  and  will  it  not  be  infinitely 
more  so  to  dwell  with  him  for  ever?  "  Lord,"  may 
you  well  say,  "  when  I  dwell  with  thee,  I  shall  dwell 
in  holiness,  for  thou  thyself  art  holiness  ;  in  love,  for 
thou  thyself  art  love :  I  shall  dwell  in  joy,  for  thou 
art  the  fountain  of  joy,  as  thou  art  in  the  Father,  and 
the  Father  in  thee."  John,  17  :  21.  Bid  welcome  to 


424  DEATH    WELCOMED. 

his  approach,  therefore,  to  take  you  at  your  word,  and 
to  fulfill  to  you  that  saying  of  his,  on  which  your  soul 
has  so  often  rested  with  heavenly  peace  and  plea- 
sure :  "  Father,  I  will  that  they  whom  thou  hast  given 
me,  be  with  me  where  I  am,  that  they  may  behold 
my  glory  which  thou  hast  given  me."  John,  17  :  24. 

8.  Surely  you  may  say  in  this  view,  "  The  sooner 
Christ  comes  the  better."  What  though  the  residue 
of  your  days  be  cut  off  in  the  midst  ?  What  though 
you  leave  many  expected  pleasures  in  life  untasted, 
and  many  schemes  unaccomplished?  Is  it  not 
enough,  that  what  is  taken  from  a  mortal  life,  shall 
be  added  to  a  glorious  eternity ;  and  that  you  shall 
spend  those  days  and  years  in  the  presence  and  ser- 
vice of  Christ  in  heaven,  which  you  might  otherwise 
have  spent  with  him  and  for  him,  in  the  imperfect 
enjoyment  and  labors  of  earth  ? 

9.  But  your  prospects  reach,  not  only  beyond 
death,  but  beyond  the  separate  state.  For  with  re- 
gard to  his  final  appearance  to  judgment,  our  Lord 
says,  "  Surely  I  come  quickly,"  in  the  sense  illustra- 
ted before ;  and  so  it  will  appear  to  us,  if  we  compare 
this  interval  of  time  with  the  blissful  eternity  which 
is  to  succeed  it;  and  probably,  if  we  compare  it  with 
those  ages  which  have  already  passed  since  the  sun 
began  to  measure  out  to  earth  its  days  and  its  years. 
And  will  you  not  here  also  sing  your  part  in  the 
joyful  anthem,  "  Amen ;  even  so  come,  Lord  Jesus !" 

10.  It  is  true,  Christian,  it  is  an  awful  day ;  a  day 


DEATH    WELCOMED. 


425 


in  which  nature  shall  be  thrown  into  a  confusion  as 
yet  unknown.    No  earthquake,  no  eruption  of  burn- 
ing mountains,  no  desolation  of  cities  by  devouring 
flames,  or  of  countries  by  overflowing  rivers  or  seas, 
can  give  any  just  emblem  of  that  dreadful  day,  when 
•«  the  heavens,  being  on  fire,  shall  be  dissolved  ;  the 
earth  also,  and  all  that  is  therein,  shall  be  burnt  up ;" 
(2  Pet.  3 :  10-12,)  when  all  nature  shall  flee  away 
in  amazement    "before  the  face   of  the   universal 
Judge,"  (Rev.  20:  11.)  and  there  shall  be  a  great 
cry,°far  beyond  what  was  known  "  in  the  land  of 
Egypt,  when- there  was  not  a  house  in  which  there 
was  not  one  dead."  Exod.  12 :  30.    Your  flesh  may 
be  ready  to  tremble  at  the  view ;  yet  your  spirit  must 
surely  "rejoice  in  God  your  Savior."  Luke,  1  :  47. 
You  may  justly  say,  "  Let  this  illustrious  day  come, 
even  with  all  its  horrors !"  Yea,  like  the  Christians 
described  by  the  apostle,  (2  Pet.  3:12,)  you  may  be 
looking  for,  and  hastening  to  that  day  of  terrible 
brightness  and  universal  doom.  For  your  Lord  will 
then  come,  to  vindicate  the  justice  of  those  proceed- 
ings which  have  been  in  many  instances  so  much 
obscured,  and  because  they  have  been  obscured,  have 
been  also  blasphemed.    He  will  come  to  display  his 
magnificence,  descending  from  heaven  "with  a  shout, 
with  the  voice  of  the  Archangel,  and  the  trump  of 
God,"   (1  Thess.  4  :  16,)   taking  his  seat  upon  a 
throne  infinitely  exceeding  that  of  earthly,  or  even  of 
celestial  princes,  clothed  with  »  his  Father's  glory 
e.  p  36* 


426  DEATH    WELCOMED. 

and  his  own,"  (Luke,  9  :  26,)  surrounded  with  a 
numberless  host  of  "  shining  attendants,  when  com- 
ing to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  admired  in  all 
them  that  believe."  2  Thess.  1  :  10.  His  enemies 
shall  also  be  produced  to  grace  his  triumph.  The 
serpent  shall  be  seen  there  rolling  in  the  dust,  and 
trodden  under  foot  by  him  and  by  all  his  servants ; 
those  who  once  condemned  him  shall  tremble  at  his 
presence ;  and  those  who  bowed  the  knee  before  him 
in  profane  mockery,  shall,  in  wild  despair,  "  call  to 
the  mountains  to  fall  upon  them,  and  to  the  rocks  to 
hide  them  from  the  face  of  that  Lamb  of  God,"  (Rev. 
6  :  16,)  whom  they  once  led  away  to  the  most  inhu- 
man slaughter. 

11.0  Christian  !  does  not  your  loyal  heart  bound 
at  the  thought  ?  And  are  you  not  ready,  even  while 
reading  these  lines,  to  begin  the  victorious  shout  in 
which  you  are  then  to  join  ?  He  justly  expects  that 
your  thoughts  should  be  greatly  elevated  and  im- 
pressed with  the  views  of  his  triumph;  but  at  the 
same,  time  he  permits  you  to  remember  your  own 
personal  share  in  the  joy  and  glory  of  that  blessed 
day;  and  even  now  he  has  the  view  before  him,  of 
what  his  power  and  love  shall  then  accomplish  for 
your  salvation.  And  what  shall  it  not  accomplish  1 
He  shall  come  to  break  the  bars  of  the  grave,  and  to 
re-animate  your  sleeping  clay.  Your  bodies  must 
indeed  be  laid  in  dust,  and  be  lodged  there  as  a  tes- 
timony of  God's  displeasure  against  sin,  against  the 


DEATH    WELCOMED.  427 

first  sin  that  ever  was  committed,  from  the  sad  con- 
sequences of  which  the  dearest  of  his  children  can- 
not be  exempted.  But  you  shall  then  have  an  ear  to 
hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  an  eye  to  be- 
hold the  lustre  of  his  appearance ;  and  shall  "  shine 
forth  like  the  sun"  arising  in  the  clear  heaven, 
"  which  is  as  a  bridegroom  coming  out  of  his  cham- 
ber." Psalm  19  :  5.  Your  soul  shall  be  new  dressed 
to  grace  this  high  solemnity,  and  be  clothed,  not  with 
rags  of  mortality,  but  with  the  robes  of  glory ;  for  he 
"  shall  change  this  vile  body,  to  fashion  it  like  his 
own  glorious  body."  Phil.  3:21.  And  when  you 
are  thus  royally  arrayed,  he  shall  confer  public  ho- 
nors on  you,  and  on  all  his  people,  before  the  assem- 
bled world.  You  may  now  perhaps  be  loaded  with 
infam}^,  called  by  reproachful  names,  and  charged 
with  crimes,  or  with  views  which  your  very  soul 
abhors ;  but  he  will  "  then  bring  forth  your  right- 
eousness as  the  light,"  (Psalm  37  :  6,)  "  and  your 
salvation  as  a  lamp  that  burneth."  Isa.  62  :  1. 
Though  you  have  been  dishonored  by  men,  you 
shall  be  acknowledged  by  God  ;  and  though  treated 
"as  the  filth  of  the  world,  and  the  off-scouring  of  all 
things,"  (1  Cor.  4  :  13,)  he  will  show  that  he  regards 
you  "  as  his  treasure,  in  the  day  that  he  makes  up 
his  jewels."  Mai.  3:17.  When  he  shall  «■  put  away 
all  the  wicked  of  the  earth  like  dross,  (Psalm  1 19  : 
119,)  you  shall  be  pronounced  righteous  in  that  full 
assembly :  and  though  indeed  you  have  broken  the 


428  DEATH    WELCOMED. 

divine  law,  and  might  in  strict  justice  have  been 
condemned,  yet,  being  clothed  with  the  righteousness 
of  the  great  Redeemer,  even  "that  righteousness 
which  is  of  the  great  God  by  faith,"  (Phil.  3  :  9,) 
justice  itself  shall  acquit  you,  and  join  with  mercy 
in  "  bestowing  upon  you  a  crown  of  life."  2  Tim.  4  : 
8.  Christ  will  "  confess  you  before  men  and  angels," 
(Luke,  12 :  8,)  will  pronounce  you  good  and  faithful 
servants,  and  call  you  to  "enter  into  the  joy  of  your 
Lord  :"  (Matt.  25  :  21,)  he  will  speak  of  you  "with 
endearment  as  his  brethren,  and  will  acknowledge 
the  kindnesses  which  have  been  shown  to  you,  as  if 
he  had  "  received  them  in  his  own  person."  Matt. 
25  :  40.  Yea,  then  shall  you,  O  Christians!  who 
may  perhaps  have  sat  in  some  of  the  lowest  places 
in  our  assemblies,  to  whom,  it  may  be,  none  of  the 
rich  and  great  of  the  earth  would  condescend  to 
speak  ;  then  shall  you  be  called  to  be  assessors  with 
Christ  on  his  judgment-seat,  and  to  join  with  him  in 
the  sentence  he  shall  pass  on  wicked  men  and  re- 
bellious angels. 

12.  Nor  is  it  merely  one  day  of  glory  and  tri- 
umph. But  when  the  Judge  arises,  and  ascends  to 
his  Father's  court,  all  the  blessed  shall  ascend  with 
him,  and  you  among  the  rest:  you  shall  ascend  to- 
gether with  your  Savior,  "  to  his  Father  and  your 
Father,  to  his  God  and  your  God."  John,  20  :  17. 
You  shall  go  to  make  your  appearance  in  the  new 
Jerusalem,  in  those  new  shining  forms  that  you  have 


DEATH    WELCOMED.  429 

received,  which  will  no  doubt  be  attended  with  a 
correspondent  improvement  of  mind ;  and  take  up 
your  perpetual  abode  in  that  fullness  of  joy,  with 
which  you  shall  be  filled  and  satisfied  "  in  the  pre- 
sence of  God"  (Psalm  16 :  11.)  upon  the  consumma- 
tion of  that  happiness  which  the  saints,  in  the  inter- 
mediate state,  have  been  wishing  and  waiting  for. 
You  shall  go  from  the  ruins  of  a  dissolving  world, 
to  "  the  new  heavens  and  new  earth,  wherein  right- 
eousness forever  dwells."  2  Pet.  3  :  13.     There  all 
the  number  of  God's  elect  shall  be  accomplished,  and 
the  happiness  of  each  shall  be  completed.  The  whole 
society  shall  be  '?  presented  before  God,  as  the  bride, 
the  Lamb's  wife,"  (Rev.  21:9,)  whom  the  eye  of  its 
celestial  bridegroom  shall  survey  with  unutterable 
delight,  and  confess  to  be  u  without  spot  or  wrinkle, 
or  any  such  thing,"  (Eph.  5  :  27,)  its  character  and 
state  being  just  what  he  originally  designed  it  to  be, 
when  he  first  engaged  to  "  give  himself  for  it,  to  re- 
deem it  to  God  by  his  blood."  Rev.  5:9.  "  So  shall 
you  ever  be"  with  each  other,  and  "  with  the  Lord," 
(1   Thess.  4:  17,)  and  immortal  ages   shall  roll 
away,  and  find  you  still  unchanged  :  your  happiness 
always  the  same,  and  your  relish  for  it  the  same  ■ 
or  rather  ever  growing,  as  your  souls  are  approach- 
ing nearer  and  nearer  to  Him  who  is  the  source  of 
happiness,  and  the  centre  of  infinite  perfection. 

13.  And  now  look  round  about  upon  earth,  and 
single  out,  if  you  can,  the  enjoyments  or  the  hopes, 


430  DEATH    WELCOMED. 

for  the  sake  of  which  you  would  say,  Lord,  delay 
thy  coming ;  or  for  the  sake  of  which  you  any  more 
should  hesitate  to  express  your  longing  for  it,  and 
to  cry,  "  Even  so,  come,  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly !" 

The  Meditation  or  Prayer  of  a  Christian  whose  Heart  is 
warmed  with  these  Prospects. 

"  O  blessed  Lord !  my  soul  is  enkindled  with  these 
views,  and  rises  to  thee  in  a  flame."  Judg.  13  :  20. 
Thou  hast  testified,  thou  comest  quickly  ;  and  I  re- 
peat my  joyful  assent,  "  Amen,  even  so,  come,  Lord 
Jesus."  Rev.  22 :  20.  Come,  for  I  long  to  have 
done  with  this  low  life  ;  to  have  done  with  its  bur- 
dens, its  sorrows,  and  its  snares  !  Come,  for  I  long 
to  ascend  into  thy  presence,  and  to  see  the  court 
thou  art  holding  above. 

**  Blessed  Jesus,  death  is  transformed,  when  I  view 
it  in  this  light.  The  king  of  terrors  is  seen  no  more 
as  such,  so  near  the  King  of  Glory  and  of  Grace.  I 
hear  with  pleasure  the  sound  of  thy  feet  approaching 
still  nearer  and  nearer.  Draw  aside  the  veil  when- 
ever thou  pleasest.  Open  the  bars  of  my  prison,  that 
my  eager  soul  may  spring  forth  '  to  thee,  and  cast 
itself  at  thy  feet :'  at  the  feet  of  that  Jesus,  '  whom, 
having  not  seen,  I  love,'  and  ■  in  whom,  though  now 
I  see  thee  not,  yet  believing,  I  rejoice  with  joy  un- 
speakable and  full  of  glory.'  1  Pet.  1 :  8.  Thou, 
Lord,  '  shalt  show  me  the  path  of  life ;'  thine  hand 
shall  guide  me  to  thy  blissful  abode,  where  '  there 


DEATH    WELCOMED.  431 

is  fullness  of  joy,  and  rivers  of  everlasting  pleasure. 
Psalm  16  :  11.  Thou  shalt  assign  me  a  habitation 
with  thy  faithful  servants,  whose  separate  spirits  are 
now  living  with  thee,  while  their  bodies  sleep  in  the 
dust.  Many  of  them  have  been  my  companions  in 
thy  laborious  work,  and  in  the  '  patience  and  tribu- 
lation of  thy  kingdom,'  (Rev.  1  :  9,)  my  dear  com- 
panions, and  my  brethren.  O  show  me,  blessed  Sa- 
vior, how  glorious  and  how  happy  thou  hast  made 
them.  Show  me  to  what  new  forms  of  better  life  thou 
hast  conducted  them  whom  we  call  the  dead !  In 
what  nobler  and  more  extensive  services  thou  hast 
employed  them !  That  I  may  praise  thee  belter  than 
1  now  can,  for  thy  goodness  to  them.  And  O  give 
me  to  share  with  them  in  their  blessings  and  their 
services,  and  to  raise  a  song  of  grateful  love,  like 
that  which  they  are  breathing  forth  before  thee  ! 

11  Yet,  O  my  blessed  Redeemer !  even  there  will 
my  soul  be  aspiring  to  yet  a  nobler  and  more  glori- 
ous hope ;  and  from  this  as  yet  unknown  splendor 
and  felicity  shall  I  be  drawing  new  arguments  to 
look  and  long  for  the  day  of  thy  final  appearance. 
There  shall  I  long  more  ardently  than  I  now  do,  to 
see  thy  conduct  vindicated,  and  thy  triumph  display- 
ed ;  to  see  the  dust  of  thy  servants  re-animated, 
and  '  death,  the  last  of  their  enemies  and  of  thine, 
swallowed  up  in  victory.'  1  Cor.  15  :  26,  54.  I  shall 
Jong  for  that  superior  honor  that  thou  intendest  me, 
and  that  complete  bliss  to  which  the  whole  body  of 


432  DEATH    WELC03IED. 

thy  people  shall  be  conducted.  Come,  Lord  Jesus, 
come  quickly,  ill  mingle  itself  with  the  songs  of 
paradise,  and  sound  from  the  tongues  of  all  the  mil- 
lions of  thy  saints  whom  thy  grace  hath  transplanted 
thither. 

"  In  the  meantime,  O  my  divine  Master,  accept 
the  homage  which  a  grateful  heart  now  pays  thee, 
in  a  sense  of  the  glorious  hopes  with  which  thou 
hast  inspired  it !  It  is  thou  that  hast  put  this  joy  into 
it,  and  hast  raised  my  soul  to  this  glorious  ambition : 
whereas  I  might  otherwise  have  now  been  grovel- 
ing in  the  lowest  trifles  of  time  and  sense,  and  been 
looking  with  horror  on  that  hour  which  is  now  the 
object  of  my  most  ardent  wishes. 

"  O  be  with  me  always,  even  to  the  end  of  this 
mortal  life.  And  give  me,  while  waiting  for  thy  sal- 
vation, to  be  doing  thy  commandments.  May  '  my 
loins  be  girded  about,  and  my  lamp  burning,'  (Luke, 
12  :  35,)  and  my  ears  be  still  watchful  for  the  blessed 
signal  of  thine  arrival ;  that  my  glowing  soul  may 
with  pleasure  spring  to  meet  thee,  and  be>  strength- 
ened by  death  to  bear  those  visions  of  glory,  under 
the  ecstacies  of  which  feeble  mortality  would  now 
expire !" 


THE    DYING    CHRISTIAN.  433 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


THE   CHRISTIAN   HONORING   GOD  BY   HIS   DYING  BEHAVIOR. 

1.  Reflections  on  the  sincerity  with  which  the  preceding  counsel 
has  been  given.— 2,  3.  The  author  is  desirous  that  (if  Pro- 
vidence permit)  he  may  assist  the  Christian  to  die  honorably 
and  comfortably.— 4.  With  this  vievj,  it  is  advised—to  rid 
the  mind  of  all  earthly  cares.— 5.  To  renew  the  humiliation 
of  the  soul  before  God,  and  its  application  to  the  blood  of 
Christ. — 6.  To  exercise  patience  under  bodily  pains  and  sor- 
rows.— 7.  At  leaving  the  world,  to  bear  an  honorable  testi- 
mony to  religion— -8.  To  give  a  solemn  charge  to  surviving 
friends. — 9.  especially  recommending  faith  in  Christ. — 10, 
1 1.  To  keep  the  promises  of  God  in  view. — 12.  And  to  com- 
mit the  departing  spirit  to  God,  in  the  genuine  exercises  of 
gratitude  and  repentance,  faith  and  charity,  which  are  exem- 
plified in  the  concluding  meditation  and  prayer. 

1.  Thus,  my  dear  reader,  I  have  endeavored  to 
lead  you  through  a  variety  of  circumstances,  and 
those  not  fancied  or  imaginary,  but  such  as  do  in- 
deed oocur  in  the  human  and  Christian  life.  And  I 
can  truly  and  cheerfully  say,  that  I  have  marked  out 
to  you  the  path  which  I  myself  have  trod,  and  in 
which  it  is  my  desire  still  to  go  on.  I  have  ventured 
my  own  everlasting  interests  on  that  foundation  on 
which  I  have  directed  you  to  adventure  yours. 
What  I  have  recommended  as  the  grand  business  of 

r.  p.  37 


434 


THE    DYING    CHRISTIAN. 


your  life,  I  desire  to  make  the  business  of  my  own ; 
and  the  most  considerable  enjoyments  which  I  ex- 
pect  or  desire  in  the  remaining  days  of  my  pilgrim- 
age on  earth,  are  such  as  I  have  directed  you  to  seek, 
and  endeavored  to  assist  you  in  attaining.  Such  love 
to  God,  such  constant  activity  in  his  service,  such 
pleasurable  views  of  what  lies  beyond  the  grave, 
appear  to  me  (God  is  my  witness)  a  felicity  incom- 
parably beyond  any  thing  else  which  can  offer  itself 
to  our  affection  and  pursuit ;  and  I  would  not  for  ten 
thousand  worlds  resign  my  share  in  them,  or  consent 
even  to  the  suspension  of  the  delights  which  they 
afford,  during  the  remainder  of  my  abode  here. 

2.  I  would  humbly  hope,  through  the  divine 
blessing,  that  the  hours  you  have  spent  in  the  review 
of  these  plain  things,  may  have  turned  to  some  pro- 
fitable account;  and  that,  in  consequence  of  what 
you  have  read,  you  have  been  either  brought  into 
the  way  of  life  and  peace,  or  been  induced  to  quick- 
en your  pace  in  it.  Most  heartily  should  I  rejoice 
in  being  further  useful  to  you,  and  that  even  to  the 
last.  Now  there  is  one  scene  remaining,  a  scene 
through  which  you  must  infallibly  pass,  which  has 
something  in  it  so  awful,  that  I  cannot  but  attempt 
doing  a  little  to  assist  you  in  it :  I  mean  the  dark  Val- 
ley of  the  Shadow  of  Death.  I  eould  earnestly  wish, 
that,  for  the  credit  of  your  profession,  the  comfort 
of  your  own  soul,  and  the  joy  and  edification  of  your 
surviving  friends,  you  might  die,  not  only  safely,  but 


THE    DYING    CHRISTIAN.  435 

honorably  too ;  and  therefore  I  would  offer  you  some 
parting-  advice.  I  am  sensible,  indeed,  that  Provi- 
dence may  determine  the  circumstances  of  your 
death  in  such  a  manner,  as  that  you  may  have  no 
opportunity  of  acting  upon  the  hints  I  now  give  you. 
Some  unexpected  accident  from  without,  or  from 
within,  may,  as  it  were,  whirl  you  to  heaven  before 
you  are  aware ;  and  you  may  find  yourself  so  sud- 
denly there,  that  it  may  seem  a  translation  rather 
than  a  death.  Or  it  is  possible  the  force  of  a  distem- 
per may  affect  your  understanding  in  such  a  manner, 
that  you  may  be  quite  insensible  of  the  circumstan- 
ces in  which  you  are;  and  so  your  dissolution 
(though  others  may  see  it  visibly  and  certainly  ap- 
proaching) may  be  as  great  a  surprise  to  you  as  if 
you  had  died  in  full  health. 

3.  But  as  it  is,  on  the  whole,  probable  you  may 
have  a  more  sensible  passage  out  of  time  into  eter- 
nity, and  as  much  may,  in  various  respects,  depend 
on  your  dying  behavior,  give  me  leave  to  propose 
some  plain  directions  with  relation  to  it,  to  be  prac- 
ticed, if  God  give  you  opportunity,  and  remind  you 
of  them.  It  may  not  be  improper  to  look  over  the 
29th  chapter  again,  when  you  find  the  symptoms  of 
any  threatening  disorder.  And  I  the  rather  hope  that 
what  I  say  may  be  useful  to  you,  as  methinks  I  find 
myself  disposed  to  address  you  with  something  of 
that  peculiar  tenderness  which  we  feel  for  a  dying 
friend ;  to  whom,  as  we  expect  that  we  shall  speak 


436  THE    DYING    CHRISTIAN. 

to  him  no  more,  we  send  out,  as  it  were,  all  our 
hearts  in  every  word. 

4.  I  would  advise,  then,  in  the  first  place,  "  that, 
as  soon  as  possible,  you  would  endeavor  to  get  rid  of 
all  further  care  with  regard  to  your  temporal  con- 
cerns, by  settling  them  in  time,  in  as  reasonable  and 
Christian  a  manner  as  you  can."  I  could  wish  there 
may  be  nothing  of  that  kind  to  hurry  your  mind 
when  you  are  least  able  to  bear  it,  or  to  distress  or 
divide  those  who  come  after  you.  Do  that  which  in 
the  presence  of  God  you  judge  most  equitable,  and 
which  you  verily  believe  will  be  most  pleasing  to^ 
him.  Do  it  in  as  prudent  and  effectual  a  manner  as 
you  can ;  and  then  consider  the  world  as  a  place  you 
have  quite  done  with,  and  its  affairs  as  nothing  fur- 
ther to  you,  more  than  to  one  actually  dead,  unless 
as  you  may  do  any  good  to  its  inhabitants  while  yet 
you  continue  among  them,  and  nay,  by  any  circum- 
stance in  your  last  actions  or  words  in  life,  leave  a 
blessing  behind  you  to  those  who  have  been  your 
friends  and  Jellow-travelers,  while  you  have  been 
despatching  that  journey  through  it  which  you  are 
now  finishing. 

5.  That  you  may  be  the  more  at  leisure,  and  the 
better  prepared  for  this,  "  enter  into  some  serious 
review  of  your  own  state,  and  endeavor  to  put  your 
soul  into  as  fit  a  posture  as  possible  for  your  solemn 
appearance  before  God."  For  a  solemn  thing  indeed 
it  is.  to  go  into  his  immediate  presence ;  to  stand 


THE    DYING    CHRISTIAN.  437 

before  him,  not  as  a  supplicant  at  the  throne  of  his 
grace,  but  at  his  bar  as  a  separate  spirit,  whose  time 
of  probation  is  over,  and  whose  eternal  state  is  to  be 
immediately  determined.  Renew  your  humiliation 
before  God  for  the  imperfections  of  your  life,  though 
it  has,  in  the  main,  been  devoted  to  his  service.  Re- 
new your  application  to  the  mercies  of  God  as  pro- 
mised in  the  covenant  of  grace,  and  to  the  blood  of 
Christ  as  the  blessed  channel  in  which  they  flow. 
Resign  yourself  entirely  to  the  divine  disposal  and 
conduct,  as  willing  to  serve  God,  either  in  this  world 
or  the  other,  as  he  shall  see  fit.  And  sensible  of  your 
sinfulness  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  the  divine  wisdom 
and  goodness  on  the  other,  summon  up  all  the  forti- 
tude of  your  soul  to  bear,  as  well  as  you  can,  what- 
ever his  afflicting  hand  may  further  lay  upon  you, 
and  to  receive  the  last  stroke  of  it,  as  one  who  would 
maintain  the  most  entire  subjection  to  the  great  and 
good  Father  of  spirits. 

6.  Whatever  you  suffer,  endeavor  to  show  "  your- 
self an  example  of  patience."  Let  that  amiable  grace 
"  have  its  perfect  work ;"  (James,  1  :  4,)  and  since 
it  has  so  little  more  to  do,  let  it  close  the  scene  nobly. 
Let  there  not  be  a  murmuring  word  ;  and  that  there 
may  not,  watch  against  every  repining  thought.  And 
when  you  feel  any  thing  of  that  kind  arising,  look 
by  faith  upon  a  dying  Savior,  and  ask  your  own 
heart,  "  Was  not  his  cross  much  more  painful  than 
the  bed  on  which  I  lie?     Was  not  his  situation, 


438  THE    DYING    CHRISTIAN. 

among1  blood-thirsty  enemies,  infinitely  more  terrible 
than  mine  amidst  the  tenderness  and  care  of  so  many 
affectionate  friends  ?  Did  not  the  heavy  load  of  my 
sins  press  him  in  a  much  more  overwhelming  man- 
ner than  I  am  pressed  by  the  load  of  these  afflic- 
tions? And  yet  he  bore  all,  'as  a  lamb  that  is 
brought  to  the  slaughter.'  "  Isaiah,  53  :  7.  Let  the 
remembrance  of  his  sufferings  be  a  means  to  sweeten 
yours ;  yea,  let  it  cause  you  to  rejoice,  when  you 
are  called  to  bear  the  cross  for  a  little  while,  before 
you  wear  the  crown.  Count  it  all  joy,  that  you 
have  an  opportunity  yet  once  more  of  honoring  God 
by  your  patience,  which  is  now  acting  its  last  part, 
and  will,  in  a  few  days,  and  perhaps  in  a  few  hours, 
be  superseded  by  complete,  everlasting  blessedness. 
And  I  am  willing  to  hope,  that  in  these  views  you 
will  not  only  suppress  all  passionate  complaints,  but 
that  your  mouth  will  be  filled  with  the  praises  of 
God  ;  and  that  you  will  be  speaking  to  those  who 
are  about  you,  not  only  of  his  justice,  but  of  his 
goodness  too.  So  that  you  will  be  enabled  to  com- 
municate your  inward  joys  in  such  a  manner  as 
may  be  a  lively  and  edifying  comment  upon  those 
words  of  the  Apostle,  "  Tribulation  worketh  pa- 
tience; arid  patience,  experience;  and  experience, 
hope;  even  a  hope  which  maketh  not  ashamed, 
while  the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  given  unto  us."  Rom. 
5  :  3-5. 


THE    DYING    CHRISTIAN.  439 

7.  And  now,  my  dear  friend,  "  now  is  the  time, 
when  it  is  especially  expected  from  you,  that  you 
bear  an  honorable  testimony  to  religion."  Tell 
those  that  are  about  you,  as  well  as  you  can,  (for 
you  will  never  be  able  fully  to  express  it,)  what 
comfort  and  support  you  have  found  in  it.  Tell  them 
how  it  has  brightened  the  darkest  circumstances  of 
your  life :  tell  them  how  it  now  reconciles  you  to 
the  near  views  of  death.  Your  words  will  carry  with 
them  a  peculiar  weight  at  such  a  season  :  there  will 
be  a  kind  of  eloquence,  even  in  the  infirmities  with 
which  you  are  struggling,  while  you  give  them 
utterance  ;  and  you  will  be  heard  with  attention, 
with  tenderness,  with  credit.  And  therefore,  when  the 
time  of  your  departure  is  at  hand,  with  unaffected 
freedom  breathe  out  your  joy,  if  you  then  feel  (as  I 
hope  you  will)  a  holy  joy  and  delight  in  God. 
Breathe  out,  however,  your  inward  peace  and  sere- 
nity of  mind,  if  you  be  then  peaceful  and  serene ; 
others  will  mark  it,  and  be  encouraged  to  tread  the 
steps  which  lead  to  so  happy  an  end.  Tell  them 
what  you  feel  of  the  vanity  of  the  world,  and  they 
may  learn  to  regard  it  less.  Tell  them  what  you  feel 
of  the  substantial  supports  of  the  Gospel,  and  they 
may  learn  to  value  it  more ;  for  they  cannot  but  know 
that  they  must  lie  down  on  a  dying-bed  too,  and  must 
then  need  all  the  relief  which  the  Gospel  itself  can 
give  them. 

8.  And  to  enforce  the  conviction  the  more,  "  give 


440  THE    DYING    CHRISTIAN. 

% 

a  solemn  charge  to  those  that  are  about  yon,  that 
they  spend  their  lives  in  the  service  of  God,  and 
govern  themselves  by  the  principles  of  real  reli- 
gion." You  may  remember  that  Joshua  and  Da- 
vid, and  other  good  men  did  so,  when  they  perceiv- 
ed that  the  days  drew  near  in  which  they  should 
die.  And  you  know  not  how  the  admonitions  of  a 
dying  friend,  or  (as  it  may  be  with  respect  to  some) 
of  a  dying  parent,  may  impress  those  who  may  have 
disregarded  what  you  and  others  may  have  said  to 
them  before.  At  least,  make  the  trial,  and  die,  la- 
boring to  glorify  God,  to  save  souls,  and  generously 
to  sow  the  seeds  of  goodness  and  happiness  in  a 
world  where  you  have  no  more  harvest  to  reap. 
Perhaps  they  may  spring  up  in  a  plentiful  crop, 
when  the  clods  of  the  valley  are  covering  your  bo- 
dy :  but  if  not,  God  will  approve  it ;  and  the  angels 
that  wait  around  your  bed  to  receive  your  departing 
soul  will  look  upon  each  other  with  marks  of  ap- 
probation in  their  countenance,  and  own  that  this  is 
to  expire  like  a  Christian,  and  to  make  a  glorious 
improvement  of  mortality. 

9.  And  in  this  last  address  to  your  fellow-mortals, 
whoever  they  are  that  Providence  brings  near  you, 
"be  sure  that  you  tell  them  how  entirely  and  how 
cheerfully  your  hopes  and  dependence  in  this  sea- 
son of  the  last  extremity  are  fixed,  not  upon  your 
own  merits  and  obedience,  but  on  what  the  great 
Redeemer  has  done  and  has  suffered  for  sinners." 


THE    DYING    CHRISTIAN.  441 

Let  them  see  that  you  die,  as  it  were,  at  trie  foot  of 
the  cross :  nothing  will  be  so  comfortable  to  your- 
self, nothing'  so  edifying  to  them.  Let  the  name  of 
Jesus,  therefore,  be  in  your  mouth  while  you  are 
able  to  speak,  and  when  you  can  speak  no  longer, 
let  it  be  in  your  heart :  and  endeavor  that  the  last 
act  of  your  soul,  while  it  continues  in  the  body,  may 
be  an  act  of  humble  faith  in  Christ.  Come  unto 
God  by  him :  enter  into  that  which  is  within  the 
veil,  as  with  the  blood  of  sprinkling  fresh  upon  you. 
It  is  an  awful  thing  for  such  a  sinner  (as  you,  my 
Christian  friend,  with  all  the  virtues  the  world  may 
have  admired,  know  yourself  to  be,)  to  stand  before 
that  infinitely  pure  and  holy  Being  who  has  seen 
all  your  ways,  and  all  your  heart,  and  has  a  perfect 
knowledge  of  every  mixture  of  imperfection  which 
has  attended  the  best  of  your  duties :  but  venture  in 
that  way,  and  you  will  find  it  both  safe  and  pleasant. 
10.  Once  more,  ''  to  give  you  comfort  in  a  dying 
hour,  and  to  support  your  feeble  steps  while  you  are 
traveling  through  this  dark  and  painful  way,  take 
the  word  of  God  as  a  staff  in  your  hand."  Let  books, 
and  mortal  friends,  now  do  their  last  office  for  you. 
Call,  if  you  can,  some  experienced  Christian,  who 
has  felt  the  power  of  the  word  of  God  upon  his  own 
heart,  and  let  him  bring  the  Scripture,  and  turn  you 
to  some  of  those  precious  promises  which  have  been 
the  food  and  rejoicing  of  his  own  soul.  It  is  with 
this   view  that  I  may  carry  the  good  office  I  am 


442  THE    DYING    CHRISTIAN. 

now  engaged  in  as  far  as  possible,  that  I  shall  here 
give  you  a  collection  of  a  few  such  admirable  scrip- 
tures, each  of  them  "  infinitely  more  valuable  than 
thousands  of  gold  and  silver."  Psalm  119  :  72. 
And  to  convince  you  of  the  degree  in  which  I  es- 
teem them,  I  will  take  the  freedom  to  add,  that  I  de- 
sire they  may  (if  God  give  an  opportunity)  be  read 
over  to  me,  as  I  lie  on  my  dying  bed,  with  short  in- 
tervals between  them,  that  I  may  pause  upon  each, 
and  renew  something  of  that  delightful  relish  which, 
I  bless  God,  I  have  often  found  in  them.  May  your 
soul  and  mine  be  then  composed  to  a  sacred  silence, 
(whatever  be  the  commotion  of  animal  nature,)  while 
the  voice  of  God  speaks  to  us  in  the  language  which 
he  spake  to  his  servants  of  old,  or  in  which  he  in- 
structed them  how  they  should  speak  to  him  in  cir- 
cumstances of  the  greatest  extremity ! 

11.  Can  any  more  encouragement  be  wanting,  when 
he  says,  "Fear  not,  for  I  am  with  thee;  be  not  dis- 
mayed, for  I  am  thy  God :  I  will  strengthen  thee,  yea, 
I  will  help  thee,  yea,  I  will  uphold  thee  with  the  right 
hand  of  my  righteousness?"  Isaiah,  41  :  10.  And 
"  he  is  not  man  that  he  should  lie,  or  the  son  of  rAan 
that  he  should  repent.  Hath  he  said,  and  shall  he  not 
do  it  ?  Or  hath  he  spoken,  and  shall  he  not  make  it 
good?"  Numb.  23  :  19.  "  The  Lord  is  my  light 
and  my  salvation,  whom  shall  I  fear  ?  The  Lord  is 
the  strength  of  my  life,  of  whom  shall  I  be  afraid?" 
Psalm  27  :  1.    »  This  God  is  our  God  for  ever  and 


THE    DYING    CHRISTIAN.  443 

ever :  he  will  be  our  guide  even  unto  death."  Psalm 
48  :  14.  Therefore,  "though  I  walk  through  the 
valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death,  I  will  fear  no  evil ; 
for  thou  art  with  me,  thy  rod  and  thy  staffthey  com- 
fort me."  Psalm  23  :  4.  "I  have  waited  for  thy 
salvation,  O  Lord."  Gen.  49  :  18.  "  O  continue  thy 
loving-kindness  unto  them  that  know  thee,  and  thy 
righteousness  to  the  upright  in  heart !  For  with  thee 
is  the  fountain  of  life;  in  thy  light  shall  we  see 
light."  Psalm  36  :  9,  10.  "Thou  wilt  show  me 
the  path  of  life;  in  thy  presence  is  fullness  of  joy,  at 
thy  right  hand  there  are  pleasures  for  evermore." 
Psalm  16:  11.  "  As  for  me,  I  shall  behold  thy 
face  in  righteousness :  I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I 
awake  with  thy  likeness."  Psalm  17:  15.  "For 
I  know  in  whom  I  have  believed,  and  am  persuaded 
that  he  is  able  to  keep  what  I  have  committed  to 
him  until  that  day."  2  Tim.  1:12.  "  Therefore 
my  heart  is  glad,  and  my  glory  rejoiceth ;  my  flesh 
also  shall  rest  in  hope."  Psalm  16  :  9.  §  "  For  if  we 
believe  that  Jesus  died,  and  rose  again ;  those  also 
that  sleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with  him."  1 
Thess.  4:14.  "I  give  unto  my  sheep  eternal  life," 
said  Jesus,  the  good  Shepherd,  "  and  they  shall  ne- 
ver perish,  neither  shall  any  pluck  them  out  of  my 
hand."  John,  10  :  28.  "  This  is  the  will  of  him  that 
sent  me,  that  every  one  that  believeth  on  me  should 
have  everlasting  life ;  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at 
the  last  day."  John,  6  :  40.    "  Let  not  your  heart  be 


444  THE    DYING    CHRISTIAN". 

troubled  ;  ye  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  me.  In 
my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions ;  if  it  were 
not  so,  I'  would  have  told  you :  I  go  to  prepare  a 
place  for  you  ;  and  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for 
you,  I  will  come  again,  and  receive  you  to  myself, 
that  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also."  John,  14 : 
1-3.  "  Go  tell  my  brethren,  I  ascend  unto  my  Fa- 
ther and  your  Father,  and  to  my  God  and  your 
God."  John,  20  :  17.  "Father,  I  will  that  they 
whom  thou  hast  given  me  be  with  me  where  I  am, 
that  they  may  behold  my  glory  which  thou  hast 
given  me ;  that  the  love  wherewith  thou  hast  loved 
me,  may  be  in  them,  and  I  in  them."  John,  17  :  24. 
26.  "He  that  testifieth  these  things  saith,  "  Surely 
I  come  quickly ;  Amen  :  even  so  come,  Lord  Jesus." 
Rev.  22 :  20.  "  O  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  O 
grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ?  Thanks  be  to  God, 
who  giveth  us  the  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
ChrisU"   1  Cor.  15:  55,  57. 

12.  Thus  may  that  God,  who  "  knows  the  souls 
of  his  children  in  all  their  adversities,"  (Psalm,  31  : 
7,)  and  in  "  whose  sight  the  death  of  his  saints  is 
precious,"  (Psalm,  116  :  15,)  cheer.and  support  you 
and  me  in  those  last  extremities  of  nature !  May  he 
add  us  to  the  happy  number  of  those  who  have  been 
more  than  conquerors  in  death!  And  may  he  give 
us  those  supplies  of  his  Spirit  which  may  enable  us 
to  pour  out  our  departing  souls  in  such  sentiments 
as  those  I  would  now  suggest,  though  we  should 


THE    DYING    CHRISTIAN.  445 

be  no  longer  able  to  utter  words,  or  to  understand 
them  if  they  were  read  to  us.  Let  us,  at  least,  re- 
view them  with  all  proper  affections  now,  and  lay- 
up  one  prayer  more  for  that  awful  moment.  O  that 
this,  and  all  we  have  ever  offered  with  regard  to  it, 
may  then  "  come  to  remembrance  before  God !" 
Acts,  10  :  4,  31. 


A  Meditation,  or  Prayer,  suited  to  the  case  of  a  Dying 
Christian. 

11 0  thou  supreme  Ruler  of  the  visible  and  invisi- 
ble worlds !  thou  Sovereign  of  life  and  of  death,  of 
earth  and  of  heaven,  blessed  be  thy  name,  I  have 
often  been  taught  to  seek  thee.  And  now  once  more 
do  I  pour  out  my  soul,  my  departing  soul  unto  thee. 
*  Bow  down  thy  gracious  ear,  O  God !  and  let  my 
cry  come  before  thee  with  acceptance.' 

"  The  hour  is  come,  when  thou  wilt  separate  me 
from  this  world,  with  which  I  have  been  so  long  and 
so  familiarly  acquainted,  and  lead  me  to  another,  as 
yet  unknown.  Enable  me,  I  beseech  thee,  to  make 
the  exchange  as  becomes  a  child  of  Abraham,  who 
being  'called  of  thee  to  receive  an  inheritance, 
obeyed  and  went  out,'  though  he  knew  not  particu- 
larly whither  he  went:  (Heb.  11:8.)  as  becomes 
a  child  of  God,  who  knows  that,  through  sovereign 
grace,  '  it  is  his  Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  him 
the  kingdom.'  Luke,  12  :  32. 

r.  p.  33 


446  THE    DYING    CHRISTIAN. 

"  I  acknowledge,  O  Lord !  the  justice  of  that  sen- 
tence by  which  I  am  expiring !  and  own  thy  wisdom 
and  goodness  in  appointing  my  journey  through 
this  gloomy  vale  which  is  now  before  me.  Help  mo 
to  turn  it  into  the  happy  occasion  of  honoring  thee, 
and  adorning  my  profession !  and  I  will  bless  the 
pangs  by  which  thou  art  glorified,  and  this  mortal 
and  sinful  part  of  my  nature  dissolved. 

u  Gracious  Father  !  I  would  not  quit  this  earth  of 
thine,  and  this  house  of  clay,  in  which  I  have  so- 
journed during  my  abode  upon  the  face  of  it,  with- 
out my  grateful  acknowledgments  to  thee  for  all 
that  abundant  goodness  which  thou  hast  caused  to 
pass  before  me  here :  (Exod.  33  :  19.)  with  my  dy- 
ing breath  I  bear  witness  to  thy  faithful  care:  I 
have  'wanted  no  good  thing.'  Psalm  34:  10.  I 
thank  thee,  O  my  God !  that  this  guilty,  forfeited, 
unprofitable  life,  was  so  long  spared ;  that  it  hath. 
still  been  maintained  by  such  a  rich  variety  of  thy 
bounty.  I  thank  thee  that  thou  hast  made  this  be- 
ginning of  my  existence  so  pleasant  to  me.  I  thank 
thee  for  the  mercies  of  my  days  and  nights,  of  my 
months  and  years,  which  are  now  come  to  their  pe- 
riod :  I  thank  thee  for  the  mercies  of  my  infancy, 
and  for  those  of  my  riper  age ;  for  all  the  agreeable 
friends  which  thou  hast  given  me  in  this  house  of 
my  pilgrimage,  !  the  living  and  the  dead  ;'  for  all 
the  help  I  have  received  from  others,  and  for  all 
opportunities  which  thou  hast  given  me  of  being 


THE    DYING    CHRISTIAN.  447 

helpful  to  the  bodies  and  souls  of  my  brethren  of 
mankind.     ■  Surely  goodness  and  mercy  have  fol- 
lowed me  all  the  days  of  my  life,'   (Psalm  23  :  6.) 
and  I  have  reason  to  rise  a  thankful  guest  from  the 
various  and  pleasant  entertainments  with  which  my 
table  has  been  furnished  by  thee.    Nor,  shall  I  have 
reason  to  repine,  or  to  grieve  at  quitting  them ;  for, 
O  my  God !  are  thy  bounties  exhausted  ?    I  know 
that  they  are  not.     I  will  not  wrong  thy  goodness 
and  thy  faithfulness  so  much  as  to  imagine,  that, 
because  I  am  going  from  this  earth,  I  am  going 
from  happiness.     I  adore  thy  mercy,  that  thou  hast 
taught  me  to  entertain  nobler  views  through  Jesus 
thy  Son.     I  bless  thee  with  all  the  powers  of  my  na- 
ture, that  I  ever  heard  his  name,  and  heard  of  his 
death ;  and  would  fain  exert  a  more  vigorous  act  of 
thankful  adoration  than  in  this  broken  state  I  am 
capable  of,  while  I  am  extolling  thee  for  the  riches 
of  thy  grace  manifested  in  him,  for  his  instructions 
and  his  example,  for  his  blood  and  his  righteous- 
ness, and  for  that  blessed  Spirit  of  thine  which  thou 
hast  given  me,  to  turn  my  sinful  heart  unto  thyself, 
and  to  bring  me  'into  the  bonds  of  thy  covenant,'  of 
that  covenant  which  • is  ordered  in  all  things  and 
sure,'  (2  Sam.  23  :  5,)  and  which  this  death,  Though 
now  separating  my  soul  from  my  body,  shall  never 
be  able  to  dissolve. 

"  I  bless  thee,  O  Lord  !  that  I  am  not  dying  in  an 
unregenerate  and  impenitent  state ;    but  that  thou 


448  THE    DYING    CHRISTIAN. 

didst  graciously  awaken  and  convince  me,  that  thou 
didst  renew  and  sanctify  my  heart,  and  didst,  by  thy 
good  Spirit,  work  in  it  an  unfeigned  faith,  a  real  re- 
pentance, and  the  beginning  of  a  divine  life.  I  thank 
thee  for  faithful  ministers  and  for  gospel  ordinances: 

1  thank  thee  for  my  Sabbaths  and  seasons  of  com- 
munion at  the  table  of  my  Lord ;  and  for  the  weekly 
and  monthly  refreshments  which  they  gave  me.  I 
thank  thee  for  the  fruits  of  Canaan  which  were  sent 
me  in  the  wilderness,  and  are  now  sent  me  on  the 
brink  of  Jordan.  I  thank  thee  for  thy  blessed  word, 
and  for  those  exceeding  rich  and  precious  promises 
of  it,  which  now  lie,  as  a  cordial,  warm  at  my  heart 
in  this  chilling  hour :  promises  of  support  in  death, 
and  of  glory  beyond  it,  and  of  the  resurrection  of  my 
body  to  everlasting  life.  O  my  God  !  I  firmly  be- 
lieve them  all,  great  and  wonderful  as  they  are,  and 
am  waiting  for  the  accomplishment  of  them  through 
Jesus  Christ ; '  in  whom  they  are  all  Yea  and  Amen.' 

2  Cor.  1  :  20.  '  Remember  thy  word  unto  thy  ser- 
vant, on  which  thou  hast  caused  me  to  hope.'  Psalm 
119:49.  I  covenanted  with  thee,  not  only  for 
worldly  enjoyments,  which  thy  love  taught  me  com- 
paratively to  despise ;  but  for  eternal  life,  as  *  the 
gift  of  thy  free  grace  through  Jesus  Christ  my 
Lord  :'  (Rom.  6  :  28,)  and  now  permit  me,  in  his 
name,  to  enter  my  humble  claim  to  it.  Permit  me 
to  consign  '  this  departing  spirit  to  thine  hand  ;  for 
thou  hast  redeemed  it  O  Lord  God  of  truth  !'  Psalm 


THE    DYING    CHRISTIAN.  449 

31:5.    *  I  am  thine  :  save  me,'  and  make  me  happy ! 
Psalm  119  :  94. 

M  But  may  I  indeed  presume  to  say  I  am  thine  ? 
0  God !  now  I  am  standing-  on  the  borders  of  both 
worlds,  now  I  view  things  as  in  the  light  of  thy  pre- 
sence and  of  eternity,  how  unworthy  do  I  appear 
that  I  should  be  taken  to  dwell  with  thy  angels  and 
saints  in  glory  !  Alas  !  I  have  reason  to  look  back 
with  deep  humiliation  on  a  poor,  unprofitable,  sinful 
life,  in  which  I  have  daily  been  deserving  to  be  cast 
into  hell.  But  I  have  this  one  comfortable  reflection, 
that  I  have  fled  to  the  cross  of  Christ ;  and  I  now 
renew  my  application  to  it.  To  think  of  appearing 
before  God  in  such  an  imperfect  righteousness  as  my 
own,  were  ten  thousand  times  worse  than  death. 
No,  Lord,  I  come  unto  thee  as  a  sinner ;  but  as  a 
sinner  who  has  believed  in  thy  Son  for  pardon  and 
life  :  I  fall  down  before  thee  as  a  guilty,  pollu'ed 
wretch ;  but  thou  hast  made  him  to  be  unto  thy  peo- 
ple for  '  wisdom  and  righteousness,  for  sanctification 
and  redemption.'  1  Cor.  1 :  30.  Let  me  have  my  lot 
among  the  followers  of  Jesus  !  Treat  me,  as  thou 
treatest  those  who  are  his  friends  and  his  brethren ! 
For  thou  knowest  my  soul  has  loved  him  and  trusted 
in  him,  and  solemnly  ventured  itself  on  the  security 
of  his  Gospel.  And  '  I  know  in  whom  I  have  believ- 
ed.' 2  Tim.  1  :  12.  The  infernal  lion  may  attempt 
to  dismay  me  in  the  awful  passage ;  but  I  rejoice 
that  1  am  « in  the  hands  of  the  good  Shepherd,'  (John, 
r.  p.  38* 


450  THE    DYING    CHRISTAIN. 

10:  11,  28,)  and  I  defy  all  my  spiritual  enemies,  in 
a  cheerful  dependence  on  his  faithful  care.  I  lift  up 
my  eyes  and  my  heart  to  him,  who  ■  was  dead  and  is 
alive  again ;  and  behold  he  liveth  for  evermore,  and 
hath  the  keys  of  death  and  of  the  unseen  world.' 
Rev.  1:18.  Blessed  Jesus,  I  die  by  thine  hand,  and 
I  fear  no  harm  from  the  hand  of  a  Savior !  I  fear 
not  that  death  which  is  allotted  to  me  by  the  hand  of 
my  dearest  Lord,  who  himself  died  to  make  it  safe 
and  happy.  I  come,  Lord,  I  come,  not  only  with  a 
willing,  but  with  a  joyful  consent.  I  thank  thee  that 
thou  rememberest  me  for  good ;  that  thou  art  break- 
ing my  chains,  and  calling  me  to  'the  glorious  lib- 
erty of  the  children  of  God.'  Rom.  8:21.  I  thank 
thee,  that  thou  wilt  no  longer  permit  me  to  live  at  a 
distance  from  thine  arms ;  but,  after  this  long  ab- 
sence, wilt  have  me  at  home,  at  home  for  ever. 

"  My  feeble  nature  faints  in  the  view  of  that  glory 
which  is  now  dawning  upon  me ;  but  thou  knowest, 
gracious  Lord,  how  to  let  it  in  upon  my  soul  by  just 
degrees,  and  to  '  make  thy  strength  perfect  in  my 
weakness.'  2  Cor.  7:9.  Once  more,  for  the  last 
time,  would  I  look  down  on  this  poor  world  which 
I  am  going  to  quit,  and  breathe  out  my  dying  prayer 
for  its  prosperity,  and  that  of  thy  church  in  it.  I  have 
loved  it,  O  Lord !  as  a  living  member  of  the  body  ; 
and  I  love  it  to  the  last.  I  humbly  beseech  thee, 
therefore,  that  thou  wilt  guard  it,  and  purify  it,  and 
unite  it  more  and  more.    Send  down  more  of  thy 


THE    DYING    CHRISTIAN.  451 

blessed  Spirit  upon  it,  even  the  Spirit  of  wisdom,  of 
holiness,  and  of  love ;  till  in  due  time  4  the  wilderness 
be  turned  into  the  garden  of  the  Lord,'  (Isa;  51:3,) 
and  'all  flesh  shall  'see  thy  salvation  !'  Luke,  3  :  6. 
11  As  for  me,  bear  me,  O  my  heavenly  Father !  on 
the  wings  of  everlasting  love,  to  that  peaceful,  that 
holy,  that  joyous  abode,  which  thy  mercy  has  pre- 
pared for  me,  and  which  the  blood  of  my  Redeemer 
has  purchased !  Bear  me  '  to  the  general  assembly 
and  church  of  the  first-born,  to  the  innumerable 
company  of  angels,  and  to  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect.'  Heb.  12:  22,  23.  And  whatever  this 
flesh  may  suffer,  let  my  steady  soul  be  delightfully 
fixed  on  that  glory  to  which  it  is  rising !  Let  faith 
perform  its  last  office  in  an  honorable  manner !  Let 
my  few  remaining  moments  on  earth  be  spent  for 
thy  glory,  and  so  let  me  ascend,  with  love  in  my 
heart*  and  praise  on  my  faltering  tongue,  to  the 
world  where  love  and  praise  shall  be  complete !  Be 
this  my  last  song  on  earth,  which  I  am  going  to 
tune  in  heaven :  •  Blessing,  and  honor,  and  glory, 
and  power,  be  unto  Him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne, 
and  to  the  Lamb  for  ever  and  ever.'  Amen !" 


Dr.  Doddridge  was  born  in  London,  June  26,  1702.  He 
was  of  a  consumptive  habit  from  infancy,  was  brought  up  in 
the  early  knowledge  of  religion,  and  was  left  an  orphan  be- 
fore he  arrived  at  the  age  of  14.   At  16  he  made  a  profes- 


452  SKETCH    OF    THE    AUTHOR'S    LIFE. 

sion  of  religion ;  at  20  commenced  preaching  the  Gospel ; 
and  at  21  was  settled  over  a  small  congregation,  in  an  ob- 
scure village,  where  he  devoted  himself  to  the  acquisition 
of  useful  knowledge  with  indefatigable  zeal.  At  27  he  was 
removed  to  the  pastoral  care  of  the  church  in  Northampton, 
where,  for  22  years,  amidst  other  diversified  labors^ettcted 
as  an  instructor  of  youth  preparing  for  the  ministry,  having 
had  under  his  charge,  during  that  period,  upwards  of  200 
young  men.  At  the  age  of  37  and  38  he  published  two  vo- 
lumes of  his  Family  Expositor  ;  and  about  the  age  of  43 
wrote  "  The  Rise  and  Progress  of  Religion  in  the  Soul."  At 
46  he  published  the  third  volume  of  the  Family  Expositor, 
and  two  Dissertations. — 1.  On  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  System 
of  the  Harmony.  2.  On  the  Inspiration  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. In  December,  1750,  in  the  49th  year  of  his  age,  he 
went  to  St.  Albans  and  preached  the  funeral  sermon  of  his 
early  patron  and  benefactor,  Dr.  Clark,  in  which  journey 
he  contracted  a  cold  that  laid  the  foundation  for  his  death. 
In  July,  1751,  he  addressed  his  flock  for  the  last  time  from 
the  pulpit ;  and  having  found  all  medical  aid  ineffectual, 
embarked,  in  October,  for  Lisbon,  as  the  last  resort  in  so 
threatening  a  disorder,  at  which  place  he  died  on  the  26th 
of  October,  aged  49  years. 

He  was  not  handsome  in  person ;  was  very  thin  and  slen- 
der, in  stature  somewhat  above  the  middle  size,  with  a 
stoop  in  his  shoulders  j  but  when  engaged  in  conversation, 
or  employed  in  the  pulpit,  there  was  a  remarkable  spright- 
liness  in  his  countenance  and  manner,  which  commanded 
general  attention. 


This  volume  is  stereotyped  and  perpetuated,  through  the 
liberality  of  Col.  Henry  Rutgers  and  Col.  Richard  Varick, 
of  New-York ;  Nicholas  Brown,  Esq.  of  Providence ;  and 
Hon.  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  of  Albany. 


